The Shadows Follow You Home: Lovers and Fighters
by Keva08
Summary: The name of the island they found us on is Lian Yu, it's Mandarin for Purgatory. The island held many dangers, to live we had to make ourselves more than what we were, to forge ourselves into weapons. We are returning not the children that were ship wrecked but as two who will bring justice to those who have poisoned our city.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, welcome to Lovers and Fighters... so Spoilers... this is the version of my story where Kyra and Oliver are together... there is also another version called Saints and Sinners... so if you are interested in seeing what the original concept for this story was go check it out...**

 **This story is for entertainment only and I don't make any money. Arrow and its characters belong to there perspective owners... I only own Kyra.**

 **Onto the story...it will be very similar to Saints and Sinners (only a few tweaks to make the two different version work) until Chp 8 but Spoilers so go check both versions out for yourself. Please review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

 _The name of the island they found us on is Lian Yu, it's Mandarin for Purgatory. We've been stranded here for five years. We've dreamt of our rescue every cold black night since then. For five years, we've only had one thought one goal, survive. Survive and one day return home. The island held many dangers, to live we had to make ourselves more than what we were, to forge ourselves into weapons. We are returning not the children that were ship wrecked but as two who will bring justice to those who have poisoned our city._

* * *

Two figures moved in perfect sync, racing through the forest, jumping, ducking, and diving over obstacles. Both so in tune with one another that their breathing and footfalls seemed to fall in time together. One wearing a green hood, the other in black. Both bare foot as they raced over the uneven ground, eventually climbing up a large rock outcropping. As they crouched down, the sight that greeted them was a fishing boat coming ever closer to the island, they spared each other a glance before taking off, jumping from one rock to another.

The smaller of the two reached their destination first, a bundle of green cloth nestled in between two rocks. But it was the one in the green hood that reached for the bow and arrows that had remained safely hidden. Once an arrow had been lit, the green hood needed only the quick nod of encouragement from his black hooded companion, before letting it fly true and igniting the signal fire with a violent explosion.

They watched, praying that the men on the boat would not ignore their call for aid, the figure in black moved silently, slipping her hand into her companion's, and intertwining their fingers. Everything was about to change, the world they had left was not the one they would return to, nor would they be returning as the same people.

As the boat turned and moved closer to the island, she gave her companion's hand a squeeze for reassurance, it was finally happening, they were going home.

As the boat came closer, they quickly made their way down to the beach. The fishermen looked scared as the two figures emerged like ghosts from the forest and one even took a step back toward their small boat. The green hood moved slowly toward the men as not to scare them off and sank down onto his knees, as the two fishermen cautiously made their way closer to them. The black hood standing at the tree line with a bow and arrow ready, ever watchful for any sign of an attack.

The man in the green moved to lower his hood, and stared up at their rescuers. The smaller figure in black, deeming they were safe, moved quickly to his side, mindful of her movements as not to frighten the men, and lowered her own. Both revealed long blond hair, gnarled and dirty.

"Please." It came as a soft whisper from the young woman with piercing green eyes.

The two would be rescuers exchanged a few words in Mandarin, seemingly unaware that the two island inhabitance could understand every word. Finally the older of the two men gestured for them to get on the boat that would take them to freedom.

The woman in black squeezed her companion's shoulder before taking off toward the tree line, returning with a box even before her blond companion had made it to his feet.

Once on the boat, they sat huddled together with a ratty blanket thrown over their shoulders. The younger fisherman brought a cup with something warm in it, an apologetic look on his face as he had only one cup for the two of them. The woman gave him a brief smile showing her gratitude and took the cup, taking a cautious sip and handing it over to her companion. She gave a small sigh of pleasure as the warmth of the drink warmed her body. As they shared the cup back and forth, they never took their eyes off the island that had been their home for the last five years. Five long years in purgatory, that had changed and shaped them into something more than when they first arrived on the god forsaken hell on Earth. To survive they had learned to adapt, learned to fight, and now they would return to fulfill the promise they had made to a man they had both loved and who had died so that they might live.

* * *

"Oliver Queen is alive. The Starling City resident was found by fishermen in the North China Sea five days ago. Five years after he was missing and presumed dead following the accident at sea which claimed the Queens Gambit… also found alive was Kyra McCoy, Miss McCoy was the registered medical personnel on board at the time of the accident…."

The local news was playing on the T.V. as the private jet carrying both Oliver and Kyra made its final approach to the Starling City Airport. They were sitting on the couch relaxing, with her tucked into his side and his arm draped over her shoulders. They had slept like this on the island, so it was only natural for them be at each other's side, a comfort and reassurance that the other was alive and unharmed, especially as everything was changing around them. They had been separated once they had reached the hospital on the mainland, for two days they were both tested and poked. Eventually, members the US consulate had arrived and then the long hours of questions and interviews had started. After four days with barely enough time for a shower and haircut, they had finally been released and whisked away to the Queen Consolidated jet that would return them home.

The rest of the news cast was drown out by Kyra's laughter at the picture of him, from five years ago, that was shown.

"Nice hair Ollie, very drunk playboy chic."

Oliver couldn't help but grin as she made fun of him. It was good to hear her laugh, they hadn't done much of that on the island. They both watched the old footage of him drunkenly fighting with the paparazzi, she burst into a new fit of giggles as they showed his mug shot which admittedly he didn't remember ever having taken.

They both quickly sobered as a picture of Robert Queen appeared, both remembering the man that had given his very life for their chance to return home.

They were separated again after they reach Starling City Hospital. Oliver gave one squeeze of her hand before he was taken for even more testing. She just rolled her eyes but returned his gesture, she could manage being apart from him for a few hours without getting into trouble.

When the tests were finally done they were brought to the same private floor, their rooms next to each other. Kyra became restless sitting alone and quickly and silently found her way into Oliver's room. He didn't move from where he was standing by the window staring out at the city, but he knew she was there. Just as she knew not to push him when he retreated into himself, she just climbed onto his bed, sat cross legged, and pulled his pillow to her chest, waiting for him to re-center himself.

They took comfort in knowing the other was there, someone who shared the same experiences; who knew what it was like on the island and how hard it was to come home. There was no need to speak as they had long ago learned how to read each other.

They were disturbed by the muffled words coming from right outside the door, neither turned as they could see the reflection of their doctor and Oliver's mother in the window. They could hear pieces of the conversation "… twenty percent… scar tissue…. burns…fractures… never healed…. Kyra… similar injuries… barely said anything…. prepare yourself…. Oliver… lost… not the one found."

"Time to face the music Ollie." Kyra softly spoke.

The door slowly opened as Moira Queen entered the room. She didn't seem to notice Kyra, being solely focused on her son.

"Oliver." They could both hear the relief and slight disbelief that her son was standing in front of her.

Kyra sat silently ready to give Oliver whatever support he would need. He took a breath and steeled himself before he turned to face his mother.

He stood completely still for a moment, taking in the fact that his mother stood before him. How often did he dream about this day, and now it had finally arrived.

"Mom." That single word seemed to convey all the love he had for her.

Kyra had to look away as they moved toward each other, not only to give them privacy but also to get control of the overwhelming grief and heartache that was clawing its way up her throat. There would be no reunion for her like this, for all those she considered family were long dead or in the room.

"Oh, my beautiful boy."

She could hear the muffled sobs of relief coming from Moira as Oliver had the first real contact with his family in five years.

Eventually, Oliver pulled away and took Kyra's hand, tugging her off the bed, and bringing her to stand next to him.

"Mom, I would like you to meet Kyra. She is one of the reasons I am alive today."

Moira seemed to have a hard time getting herself under control and Kyra not knowing what else to do stuck out her hand. She tensed as Moira grabbed her in a hug, whispering thank you, thank you, over and over again.

Oliver feeling her tense, squeezed her hand, reassuring her that he wasn't going to leave her to the mercy of his mother. She squeezed his hand back, but it was a promise of retribution for allowing his overly emotional mother cling to her.

Oliver hid a small smile as two of the four most important woman in his life met for the first time.

Eventually, Moira released Kyra with a watery smile and apology for manhandling her. With a promise to return in the morning to bring Oliver home Moira made her way out of the room.

"That went well," as he said it, Oliver braced himself for his punishment which came in the form of Kyra punching him in the arm. He winced, rubbing the spot as she moved away with a self-satisfied grin on her face, from someone so little she could inflict a lot of pain when she wanted to.

They moved to the bed and settled in for the night, Oliver on his back with Kyra tucked into his side, her head resting on his shoulder. When the night nurse came to check on her charges she found them resting peacefully together.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

The next morning, was bright and sunny. They had left the hospital through the back service entrance to avoid the swarms of media waiting to get a glimpse of the famous castaways. Moira didn't put up much of a protest when Oliver informed her that Kyra would be coming to staying with them.

Moira spoke the whole way to the Queen Mansion updating Oliver on everything she deemed important that he had missed in the five years he had been gone. Kyra sat quietly in the front with the driver watching the scenery go by.

They pulled up to the mansion and Kyra got her first glimpse into the former lifestyle of her companion. She could only gawk at the sheer size the residence that was only shared by four people of the Queen family. She was knocked out of her musings when she heard Oliver telling the driver he would take their only luggage. They made their way through the front door.

"Your room is exactly as you left it. I never had the heart to change a thing. I will have Raisa prepare a room for Kyra near yours."

If Kyra thought the Queen Mansion was grand on the outside the first glimpse of the inside gave her a good idea of the life of privilege Oliver had led before the accident.

"Oliver, it's damn good to see you."

Oliver put the case down as a man in a tailored suit approached him. From the looks on both Moira and the mysterious man's faces they expected Oliver to know who he was. When the man stuck his hand out, Kyra nudged Oliver in the back to remind him of his manners.

"It's Walter, Walter Steele."

"You remember Walter, your father's friend from the company."

Kyra rolled her eyes at Oliver's lack of manners as he ignored them and moved to greet an older woman in a maid's uniform. Picking up the case she stuck out her hand and introduced herself as Oliver seemed to forget she didn't really know anyone but him.

"Kyra McCoy, I was stuck on the island with the caveman over there."

Surprise flickered across Walter's face, but he quickly hid it and shook her hand, reintroducing himself. Once the introductions were complete, they moved further into the foyer. Oliver had the maid by the hands and Kyra could tell that the woman meant a great deal to Oliver and him to her if the smile on her face was anything to go by.

"Mr. Merlyn called, he wants to join you for dinner," she spoke with a slight Russian accent.

"Wonderful."

A noise from upstairs caught their attention and Oliver moved to the end of the stair case.

"Oliver, did you hear that?"

Kyra didn't move from her spot behind Moira and Walter as she watched Oliver come face to face with the person he probably missed most during his time on the island.

"Hey Sis."

Thea Queen quickly made her way down the stairs and threw herself into her big brother's arms.

"I knew it, I knew you were alive."

Again Kyra looked away at the heartache that Oliver's happy reunion caused to bubble up.

"Kyra."

She turned to find Oliver with his hand out, inviting her to join him. She set down the case and slowly made her way over, feeling like she was about to face the hardest test in her life, trying to make Thea Queen like her.

"Thea, I would like you to meet Kyra McCoy. She's a big part of why I am standing here today."

Thea wasn't quite as eager to thank her as Moira had but she did give her a hug and a quiet thank you. Kyra had a feeling it would be a lot hard for her and especially Oliver to earn back her trust.

After the awkward introductions were over, Kyra was shown to her room by Raisa, the maid from earlier.

"Mr. Oliver's room is just down the hall on the right."

The guest room was lavish, a king size bed in the middle with a fire place and small sitting area on one wall. The bathroom looked to be about as big as the last apartment Kyra had had before the island. Raisa waited patiently for her to take it all in.

"Is there anything you need, Ms. McCoy?"

"No, if I can figure out how to flay a fish I think I can figure out how to work the shower. And please call me Kyra."

Raisa nodded, "Alright, Ms. Kyra dinner is in two hours. Please let me know if you need anything."

As she left, Raisa closed the door, leaving Kyra alone in her new space. With nothing to do and wanting to give Oliver a bit more time alone with his mother and sister, she made her way to the bathroom to freshen up. She had been right that the bathroom was bigger than her old apartment. There were double sinks, a toilet, and a tub that could easily fit four people, and finally the walk in shower. She quickly stripped herself of her hospital issue pants and t-shirt. She just stood under the water for the longest time, enjoying the luxury of a hot shower after five years of bathing in a cold spring. Once she was done and wrapped up one of the softest towels she had ever felt, she realized she didn't have any clothes beside what she had arrived in.

Thinking quickly, she found herself sneaking down the hall to Oliver's room. She silently shut the door behind her and surveyed his room. There was a king bed like to one in her room, and along the walls there were bookshelves filled to the brim. She could hear his shower running, so took it upon herself to find something to wear. After rummaging through his dresser she found a pair of athletic shorts and a t-shirt. Once she slipped them on she walked over to the bookshelves and began looking through his collection.

She heard the shower turn off but didn't move from where she was when Oliver came into the room with nothing on but a towel around his waist. The scars and tattoos marking his body plain to see, it was why she had avoided looking in the mirror since she gotten back. Many of the scars he carried she carried a twin to. He didn't even blink when he saw her standing there in his clothes. She slowly put the book back that had caught her attention and moved over to where he stood, seemingly lost in his very room. She watched as he moved to the mirror and looked at the scars that marred his body. Each had a painful story behind it, each with dark memories attached.

Knowing he could easily slip back into himself, Kyra moved next to him and placed a hand gently on his waist. Reminding him that he wasn't alone and that the pain and memories were just that memories.

It didn't seem to be enough to keep him in the here and now, so she patiently waited for him to return from his memories.

* * *

 _The lighting and thunder hadn't let up in hours, and as Robert Queen stared at the radar he had a sinking feeling that something terrible was going to happen._

" _Here, this should help with the sea sickness."_

 _Robert was brought out of his musings but a soft voice and a packet of pills being placed in his hand._

 _He turned to find Kyra next to him, he gave her a brief smile before popping the pills in his mouth and taking the pre-offered water bottle. Once she was satisfied that he had taken the pills she moved over to the radar._

" _It's getting worst isn't it?"_

 _Robert couldn't lie to her the evidence was right outside as the wind, rain, and waves, causing the Queens Gambit rock back and forth. All he could do was squeeze her shoulder in comfort._

 _A crew member wrestled against the wind to close the door before he moved toward them, "The storm is a category two, the Captain's recommending we turn back."_

 _With one finally squeeze, Robert released Kyra's shoulder a moved to follow the crew member down the passageway._

" _Alright, inform the crew."_

 _They were making their way toward the bridge, when one of the other passengers stumbled into the hall._

" _Are we in trouble?"_

" _One of us is."_

 _Robert shook his head at Oliver and his antics but moved to reassure his son that they were fine, when a scantily clad Sara Lance appeared in the hall behind Oliver._

" _Ollie… oh… um where do you keep the bottle opener on this thing."_

 _Kyra rolled her eyes at the billionaire playboy and his latest fling and moved past Robert and the love birds to go and find the other crew members._

" _I'll be there in a minute, Sara."_

 _Robert could see that Oliver had followed in his footsteps and not in a good way. Sara quickly retreated back to their room._

" _You know son that is not going to finish well for either of them, or for you."_

* * *

When Oliver had finally returned from his memories he found Kyra was gone but clothes were laid out on his bed. He hadn't realized how long he had been standing there until he looked at the clock and realized he only had twenty minutes until dinner.

He was waiting for Kyra in the foyer when an old photograph caught his eye, it was of him and his father when he had been eight or nine. He felt her presence at the top of the stairs but didn't turn until she stood beside him, looking at the photo.

"I miss him too. Where did you go earlier?"

He set down the picture and turned to find her dressed in a pair of black slacks and a dark navy top, with six inch heels. When he raised an eyebrow in question, she just rolled her eyes, "Your sister came looking for you and found me standing there like an idiot. So, she found me something to wear, which reminds me, I need to go shopping. And don't think I didn't notice you avoiding my question, Ollie?"

They were interrupted by the door opening behind them, "What did I tell you, yachts suck."

They both turn to find Oliver's childhood best friend in front of them with a smile splitting his face ear to ear.

"Tommy Merlyn."

Oliver moved to embrace his friend.

"I missed you buddy and who might this lovely lady be?"

Oliver fought off a grin as Tommy eyed Kyra up and down. She would eat him alive and by the way she was eyeing him, he could already tell she didn't think much of Tommy.

"Kyra… Tommy Merlyn…. Tommy…. Kyra McCoy."

Kyra held out her hand but instead of shaking it Tommy brought it to his lips and kissed it.

"A pleasure, I'm sure." With a flirty wink he was off to greet Moira and Thea who had come to see what was taking them so long.

Oliver placed his hand at the small of Kyra's back to prevent her attempt to escape back up the stairs. He knew this wasn't really her thing and she was humoring him by letting him drag her to the family dinner for support. With a slight push toward the dining room she moved but not before wiping the back of her hand where Tommy had kissed it on the front of his sweater. He just rolled his eyes and led her to the seat that was between Tommy and him.

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	3. Chapter 3

The food was delicious, but both Oliver and Kyra just picked at it, not used to the rich, heavy food. They both sat listening to Tommy as he took it upon himself to pick up where Moira left off filling them in on what they had missed in the last five years.

"Ok, what else did you miss? Superbowl winners…Giants, Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants again. Ah… a black president that's new. Oh, and 'Lost'… they were all dead… I think?"

Kyra hid a smirk as she watched Thea roll her eyes at him. She noticed Oliver's not so subtle stare at the other end of the table and nudged him in the leg, gently reminding him of the world and people around him.

Kyra moved to take a sip of wine when Thea finally leaned forward and asked, "What was it like there?"

Kyra slowly set her glass down, everyone seemed to stop what they were doing even Raisa, and neither she nor Oliver missed the glances shared between Tommy, Moira, and Walter. She would leave it up to Oliver how much he wanted to share about their experiences with those closest to him.

Oliver laid a hand on Kyra's arm, giving her a gentle squeeze in thank you and reassurance before answering, "Cold."

An awkward silence lingered at Oliver's response. It didn't last long though thanks to Tommy, "Tomorrow you and me, we're doing the city. You have a lot to catch up on."

"That sounds like a great idea," came from Moira at the other end of the table.

"Good, then I was hoping to swing by the office."

Both Oliver and Kyra watched for the reactions to his request. Moira seemed to embrace the idea, while Walter seemed to pause, "Well, there's plenty of time for all that. Queen Consolidated isn't going anywhere."

Neither of they looked and just reacted when Raisa tripped while bringing a bowl of fruit to the table. Oliver grabbing the bowl and placing a hand at her waist to stop her from falling forward, as Kyra did the same and grabbed Raisa's arm to help support her.

They could tell she was embarrassed, "I am so sorry Mr. Oliver, Ms. Kyra."

"Ни для кого не волнуйтесь, Raisa." (It is not a worry, Raisa.)

Kyra could see the surprise on Raisa's face at Oliver reassuring her in her native tongue.

"Dude, you speak Russian?" Tommy asked.

Both Kyra and Oliver froze for a moment, catching each other's eye, how would they explain this?

"I didn't know you took Russian in college, Oliver."

"He didn't," Kyra's quick response drew everyone's attention to her. "I knew it before the island and there wasn't much to do there, so..."

Kyra gave a shrug of her shoulders and quickly took a sip of wine almost choking on it when Oliver opened his mouth.

"I didn't know you wanted to sleep with my mother, Walter."

Kyra gave him a sharp kick under the table at his rudeness, but he didn't react only continued to stare at his mother.

The table suddenly became very uncomfortable as Moira shifted her gaze from her son to her daughter.

With all eyes on Thea, she shifted in her seat, "I didn't say anything."

"She didn't have to."

Moira seemed to realize that she couldn't keep this secret from her son and shared a look with Walter, "Oliver, Walter and I are married. And I don't want you to think that either one of us did anything to disrespect your father."

"We both believed that Robert like you was…gone."

"It's fine," Oliver said softly with a small nod of acceptance.

He slowly moved to stand, "May I be excused?"

Moira sensing her son need his space, gave a gentle nod.

Kyra caught Oliver's hand as he passed and he gave her a squeeze reassuring her, he was fine and just needed a little time.

"Hey, don't forget about tomorrow, Buddy."

With a pat on the shoulder for Tommy and a quick wink towards Thea, the dinner party watch him make his way out of the room.

With Oliver gone, Kyra desperately wanted to escape with him. After all, other than the stories Oliver had told her, she really didn't know any of the people who were currently staring at her.

"So, Ms. McCoy, tell us about yourself." Walter asked trying to save her from the silence.

Kyra picked up a pear from the bowl Raisa had brought to the table and played with it, "Well, there is not much to say really. Born and raised in Starling City, my mother died when I was seventeen, and I never really knew my father. I was working as a nurse in the Glades when Mr. Queen hired me as the medical personnel for the Queens Gambit."

The silence that followed was even more awkward than before, it became glaringly obvious that Kyra couldn't relate to anyone in the room. Thea and Tommy focused on their plates and Moira seemed to be trying to figure her out.

Walter again came to the rescue, "Well, we are happy to have you here."

Kyra gave him a small smile for his efforts at trying to include her in the dinner. She took the napkin from her lap and placed it next to her plate, "Well, it's been a very long day. If you will excuse me, I plan to make great use of the fabulous bed in my room."

Not waiting for an answer, Kyra quickly made her way to her room and changed into Oliver's shorts and t-shirt from before. A flash of lightening lit up the entire room and made her tense, she had to force herself to breathe, to remember she was safe in the Queen Mansion and not on the island.

She waited two hours in her room, hoping it would be long enough for the other members of the family to retire for the night, before making her way to Oliver's room. When she entered she could see he had had the same problem as she had, the bed had been so soft it was uncomfortable especially after sleeping on the cold hard ground for the last five years.

Oliver didn't seem surprised to see her in his doorway and just gave the spot next to him a pat. It was all the invitation she needed. He rolled to his side facing the door and she laid down behind him. The position was second nature to them, Oliver always between her and the doorway, though they both knew she could take care of herself, it gave Oliver peace of mind so she allowed it.

His room was too warm for them to sleep so Kyra got up to open the window. The cool air rushed in and now that she was with him the sounds of the storm were oddly comforting.

They both drifted off to sleep, neither realizing the rain was coming in, soaking them, triggering the memory of one of the worst nights of their lives.

* * *

" _One…two… three…its getting closer."_

 _Oliver moved to fill his wine glass and hoped his father had done the right thing turning them around, as the storm seemed to be getting worst instead of better._

" _That's not very scientific," he said with a grin toward Sara._

" _What would you know science, Mr. Ivy League dropout?"_

 _He sat next to her on the bed, "I happen to know a lot about science. I know fermentation… I know biology."_

 _As they pulled back from their kiss Sara mentioned the one person Oliver had been trying to avoid thinking about._

" _Laurel's going to kill me. She's so going to kill me."_

" _Your sister will never know."_

 _With a laugh he pushed her back down on the bed, and moved in for a kiss when the lights dimmed and there was a loud crack of thunder._

" _Okay, that was really close."_

 _Oliver looked down at her and knew they both needed reassurance, "Sara, we're going to be fine."_

 _A low ominous growl sounded right before the lights dimmed and the boat rocked to the side, throwing them both from the bed and across the room._

 _Oliver pulled himself up and looked over a fallen chair, to find Sara on the floor, blood trickling down from a gash on her forehead._

 _There was a loud crack like a gunshot and suddenly water was rushing in._

" _Sara!?" Oliver lunged for her but he was too late, she was swept out to sea._

 _The next thing he remembered was forcing his head above water, the waves and rain filling his mouth and nose faster than he could spit it out._

 _He searched around, desperately calling her name, "Sara?! Sara!?"_

 _He was lucky, he had surface not far from the life raft that his father and the some of the crew had managed to get aboard._

" _Oliver! Oliver!"_

 _He swam toward the raft and allowed his father and the first mate to haul him into it. The only other person in the raft was the nurse his father insisted accompany them on their three week voyage._

 _He didn't care about her, he only cared about finding Sara._

 _He quickly turned around and lunged back toward the water. His father quickly grabbed him and forced him to stay in the life raft._

" _No! No! Dad, she's still out there."_

 _His father didn't release his vice like grip on his shoulders as he struggled to go and find Sara. "She's not there!"_

" _Sara?! Sara!?" He screamed desperately, his voice being lost the in the wind._

 _They all watched as the Queens Gambit sank beneath the violent waves._

" _She's gone."_

* * *

"Oliver? Kyra? Oliver wake up!" a voice called out to them, but they were both so entrenched in their nightmare like memories that when Moira placed a hand on Oliver's shoulder trying to wake him, they were both caught off guard and reacted on instinct.

Oliver flipped Moira over and had his hand to her throat in less than a second, Kyra moved to a crouch covering his back and scanned the room for dangers.

"Oliver!" Walter's yelled brought them both back and they realized the positions they were in. Moira coughed as Oliver removed his hand from her throat and they both scooted back toward the window seat. Kyra was safely tucked behind Oliver's back, peeking over his shoulder, still trying to make sense of what had happen a moment ago.

"I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

Kyra curled herself around Oliver's back and hugged his middle, knowing it would bring them both comfort. They were both shaken by the memories and their reaction at being woken, Oliver more so as he had attacked his mother without a second thought.

Moira was obviously rattled but did what any mother would do if their child was distraught, she crouched down making herself less threatening, Walter following her example, and began reassuring them both that everything was going to be okay.

"No, its okay Oliver. It's alright sweetheart, your home, you're both home."

It took ten minutes for both Oliver and Kyra to calm down enough to move. Neither Moira nor Walter pushed them. Once Kyra knew Oliver was okay she slowly moved from her position at his back and shut the window, silencing the storm that was still raging outside.

Ever the nurse even after five years, she moved to inspect Moira's neck. There was a slight bruise but knowing Oliver's skills it could have been much, much worse.

She gave the couple a small smile in reassurance, "Walter, we will be fine. Thank you for checking on us. Why don't you take Moira to get something warm to sooth her throat and then retire for the evening? I think we have all had a very long day."

Walter nodded, having sensed that they both needed their space and gently tugged his wife to the door.

When Kyra was sure that they were gone, she went to the bathroom and found some towels. Returning to find that Oliver hadn't move, she wrapped a towel around his shoulders and then around herself.

She took a seat next to him, found his hand, "We both knew that this wasn't going to be easy."

The only response she got was for him to tighten his hold on her hand. She wouldn't push, they both had been scarred by their memories and experiences from the island. They had been foolish to think that even being home wouldn't trigger memories of the people they lost along the way.

They remained side by side for the rest of the night, neither having to say anything. The connection they forged on the island that had kept them alive and gotten them through the pain and heartache, would get them through the challenge of returning to a home they didn't recognize.

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	4. Chapter 4

The next morning was clear blue skies, the storm just a fading memory. At seven a.m. the alarm clock at Oliver's bed side went off. Oliver was the first to move, placing a gentle kiss on Kyra's temple before going to get ready for the day.

When he left the bathroom, his room was empty. He got dressed in simple jeans and a gray t-shirt before he made his way to Kyra's room.

A muffled 'come in,' told Oliver it was safe to enter and he found Kyra standing in the middle of her room in a bath robe, staring in disbelief at the rather large pile of clothes that had taken residence on her bed.

Oliver gave a low chuckle, it was nice to know some things never change like Thea's shopping addiction.

"How…?'"

"Thea, most likely… any excuse to go shopping."

Kyra moved to inspect the purchases and he could see her getting more agitated as she got further through the pile.

"Oliver, I can't accept these. This dress alone costs more than my rent… well if I had rent."

Oliver grabbed her shoulders and gently spun her around, "Kyra, you don't have to accept it, but I think this is my sister's way of saying thank you and trying to bond. Plus it's not like you have any other clothes so…"

He quickly moved out of her reach as she sent a punch toward his kidney.

"Alright, just the jeans and a shirt. The rest are going back as soon as I can go shopping myself."

He left her muttering to herself about why anyone would need a $200 pair of jeans, and made his way back to his room.

With the door closed he moved to retrieve the wooden crate from under his bed. He quickly undid the lock and gently removed the small book laying on top. He quickly found what he was looking for and returned the case back under his bed.

When he opened his door he found Kyra standing there ready to knock, dressed in the $200 pair of jeans, a teal shirt, and leather jacket, along with leather boots. He couldn't stop himself from grinning at her.

"What?"

He eyed her up and down, and she just shrugged her shoulders, "It's cold outside?"

It sounded more like a question than a reason for wear the jacket, "Whatever, you say Kyra. Whatever you say."

They made their way to Thea's room and they could hear muffled giggling through the door.

Oliver knocked but didn't wait for an answer as he quickly opened the door. Neither girl in the room was fast enough to hide the evidence of what they had been doing. Kyra remained in the doorway as Oliver entered the room.

"Ollie!?"

"Nobody's called me that in a while, Speedy."

A small white lie but the smile on Thea's face made it worth it.

"Worst nickname ever," Thea grumbled as she stood in front of her brother.

"What always chasing after me as a kid, I thought if fit pretty well. May it still does?"

Thea's friend obviously wanting to make a quick getaway grabbed her bag and moved past the siblings, so focused on saying goodbye that she didn't notice when Kyra pickpocketed the drugs from her jacket pocket, "See you at school, Speedy."

"Sorry about her." Though both Oliver and Kyra could tell she wasn't.

Oliver decided to ignore it in favor of returning to why he was there in the first place.

"I have something for you."

He showed her the white arrow shaped rock in his hand.

"You did not come back from a deserted island with a souvenir," Thea remarked in disbelief.

"It's a hozen. In Buddhism, it symbolizes reconnecting. I kept it in hopes that one day; it would reconnect me with you.

Thea gently took the gift and Oliver caught a glimpse of the sweet innocent little sister he left five years ago, it gave him hope that maybe she was still in there somewhere under all the attitude and rebellion.

The moment was broken when Tommy arrived, "A rock that is sweet. I want one of those t-shirts that says my friend was a cast way and all I got was this crappy shirt."

He walked up to the siblings with a grin on his face, completely aware he was intruding on their bonding moment.

Thea eyed them both, "Don't let him get you into too much trouble. You just got back, take it slow."

Oliver gathered her into a hug and just enjoyed the moment before they were interrupted again, "The city awaits."

Tommy followed Oliver out of the room, Kyra moved to follow but Thea called her back, "Kyra, watch him will you. Tommy doesn't know when to stop and Oliver doesn't need that kind of trouble."

The look they shared was one of mutual understanding of dealing with men and their stupidity. Giving Thea a salute, that promised she would try her best, Kyra followed the boys down the hall. She caught up with them just in time to hear Tommy say, "Have you noticed how hot your sister's gotten."

The look Oliver gave him almost stopped him in his tracks and he quickly scramble to save himself, "Cuz I have not."

Kyra just shook her head, it was going to be a long day. Oliver put his arm around her waist as they made their way down the hall, "I could make him disappear for you, won't even charge you anything."

Oliver just grinned, she always knew how to lighten the mood, "I will keep that in mind."

* * *

Tommy had only brought a two seater sport car but when it became obvious that Kyra would be tagging along on their man date, they sweet talked Moira into letting them take out one of the many cars the Queens own.

Kyra was sitting in the back trying the count the number of ways she could kill Oliver without leaving any trace for making her listen to the two of them bond in the front seat.

"Your funeral blew." Tommy trying to sound heartfelt. It was ruined a second later by his grin when Oliver asked him if he gotten lucky.

"Like fish in a barrel. They were so sad and huggy."

"No…" Oliver spoke almost enviously.

"And I am counting on another target rich environment for your welcome home bash."

"Wait, my what?"

"You came back from the dead. Both of you. This calls for a party. You tell me where and when, and I will take care of everything."

It became obvious as Tommy blew through yet another stop sign that they had reached the Glades. Run down and abandoned buildings lined the streets and there were homeless camps lining the street corners.

He brought them to a stop, "This city's gone to crap. Your dad sold his factory just in time."

Tommy was so focused on the homeless on the corner that he didn't see both his passengers attention was directed to the old Queen Industrial Steel factory to their right.

"Why did you want to drive through this neighborhood anyway?"

"No reason."

Noticing the mood had dropped almost too broody level, Tommy asked, "So what did you miss the most? Steaks at the Palm, drinks at the Station, meaningless sex?"

Oliver only had one reply, "Laurel."

Tommy just looked at him for a second and then looked at Kyra as if to ask, is he serious?

"Everyone is happy you're alive, and you want to see the one person who isn't?"

When Oliver shrugged in reply, Tommy just rolled his eyes and drove off toward Laurel's office knowing this was a bad idea.

* * *

Oliver got out of the car and opened the backdoor for Kyra, he could feel her disapproving glare before he saw it.

"Ollie!" Kyra was the only person he knew that could convey everything she wanted to say by just saying his name. In this case it was her disapproval, anger, and worry as to the outcome of the meeting with the woman he had loved and betrayed five years ago.

"Kyra, it will be fine."

That didn't seem to reassure her, "I thought we decided you were going to give the Lances, especially Laurel, space. Like not coming within five blocks of her space."

"No, you decided that we should avoid them, I never agreed to anything."

He quickly made his way inside to avoid any further argument, but he knew he was going to pay for it later.

With Oliver inside facing down one of his former girlfriends, Kyra and Tommy did the only sensible thing and went to get a coffee, as they wanted to avoid the thermal nuclear detonation that they both knew was about to occur.

Kyra could only stare at all the different concoctions listed on the menu trying to remember the last time she had just had a plain coffee, let alone a triple shot caramel macchiato the woman in front of them had ordered.

They moved up to the counter and Tommy was ordering for them before she could even open her mouth.

"Hi, we'll have two black coffees. Thanks."

She eyed him as he paid for their drinks and led them over to wait for their coffee.

Tommy shift under her gaze, wondering if she was ever going to blink, "Look if you want something else, you can have whatever you want, my treat. I just thought, straight black coffee was the way to ease you back into caffeine, since you just kind of picked at your food last night at dinner."

Their number was called and he left her side to retrieve their drinks. She had to give him credit, he was more observant than she had realized.

After she took her first sip of the sweet nectar of the gods she sighed and said, "I may have misjudged you Tommy Merlyn. And thank you, black coffee is probably the only way I can drink it right now."

They moved to the exit and made their way back to Laurel's office, both happy to see it still standing. At her thanks he nodded, "So… you and Oliver…?"

She just raised her eyebrow daring him to finish the sentence. He quickly put his hands up in surrender, "Just wondering how hard I have to work to get Oliver laid that's all."

She almost choked on the sip of coffee she had just taken, she quickly stepped in front of him and turned to face him, forcing him to stop or run her over.

She looked him straight in the eye and could see even though his words were rude, he truly cared for Oliver and his wellbeing and was genuinely curious about their relationship.

"No, Oliver and I are not together."

She turned and began walking forcing herself not to reveal any more, Tommy had to jog to keep up with her, "So what? That means no sex for either of you in like five years right?"

She stopped again and didn't even have to look at him before he was apologizing, "Don't forget Merlyn, Oliver and I had a lot of time on our hands when we were on that island… I know all your dirty little secrets."

She left him behind with a smirk on her face, leaving him to worry about what she could possibly know about the skeletons in his closet. When she reached the front door of the C.N.R.I. office where Laurel was employed, she could see Oliver and a woman dressed in professional clothing making their way toward them down the side walk. She decided to wait, Oliver wasn't dead yet so he must have done something right to get Laurel to talk to him.

The pair stopped half way down the block and Oliver turned to face Laurel. Kyra and Tommy couldn't hear any of the conversation but they could tell Laurel was become more and more upset.

She finally brushed past Oliver, making her way toward them, and leaving Oliver standing alone in the middle of the sidewalk.

"How'd you think that was going to go, Tommy?"

"About like that."

Kyra just shook her head and made her way to Oliver. She could see the guilt that was eating away at him in his eyes, she knew she had to stop is his descent into self-loathing. So she did the only thing she could think of and stuck her cup under his nose, "Coffee?"

* * *

The three of them made their way back to the alley in which Tommy had parked the car. Kyra ignored Tommy's ramblings about fish and models, something was making her skin crawl. She could feel they were being watched, squealing tires caused them to turn around. A beat up old van came to a screeching halt blocking the alley entrance.

"What the Hell!" Tommy exclaimed as he jumped back out of the way.

Two men dressed in hoodies and red masks moved out from the shadows, Oliver and Tommy turned to face them, but Kyra stayed focused on the man in the van, trusting Oliver to have her back as she had his. She heard the first shot and a body hit the pavement before a second shot was heard. She could tell it hadn't been gun fire but some sort of pressurized gun, most likely a tranquilizer. She shifted her stance so she could see all three men, and to check on Tommy and Oliver. Tommy was already slipping into unconsciousness but Oliver was leaning against the car with a dazed look on his face.

The two with the tranquilizers were fumbling trying to reload obviously not expecting more than the two men, she could take them without breaking a sweat if she wasn't more concerned about the man with the semi-automatic trained on her. She didn't like her odds but shifted her weight anyway getting ready to lunge at the closest target, when they were all distracted by the side door to the building opening and a man carrying garage came out.

Kyra used the distraction to lunge forward, she grabbed for the gun but was at the wrong angle only managing to force it to the side but not before the thug opened fire. The innocent man didn't even have time to react as he was hit with a spray of bullets. Kyra slammed her elbow into the side of the thug's head before elbowing him the stomach, and grabbing his shoulders bring his masked face to meet her knee. She felt great satisfaction at the muffled scream as she broke his nose, it didn't last long though, as she felt the pinprick of a tranquillizer dart hit her shoulder. She stumbled back into the hood of the van and sank to her knees as the power drug took effect, she was conscious long enough to watch as the masked men placed black hoodies over Tommy and Oliver's heads.

* * *

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	5. Chapter 5

**Kyra's POV**

Kyra was jerked to consciousness as she was dragged out of the back of a vehicle. Everything was dark, as her feet dragged across the floor and she was dumped into a chair. She fought the effects of the sedative but couldn't do anything as her arms were zip-cuffed to the chair. She didn't move, trying to take in her surroundings with her other senses, she heard the men move away and heard what sounded like a body being dropped on the floor. The men moved again and she heard boots dragging and a chair creaking as something heavy was put on it.

At least they were all together as she assumed Tommy and Oliver were the two bodies she heard the men moving.

The hood was yanked off, momentarily blinding her. She blinked to clear her vision and she found that they were in a warehouse, Tommy was face down on a pallet but breathing and Oliver was sitting in a chair a few feet from her with a hood over his head.

"Now that's better, we can see your pretty face," one of the masked men said as he tossed the hood she had been wearing to the side. "Now I am going to ask you some questions and you are going to answer them."

Kyra flexed her wrists trying to see how tightly she was bound as she eyed him up and down, "And if I don't?"

"Well, then we'll just have to become persuasive. Did Robert Queen survive the accident?"

Kyra stared back at the masked man not saying a word.

"Alright, just know we tried to do this the easy way."

The man pulled out a stun gun and turned it on, bringing it close to her face, "Did Robert Queen survive the sinking of the Queens Gambit?"

When she didn't even blink, the man jabbed the stun gun into her shoulder. Her whole body seized up and she let out a cry of pain. After what seemed like an eternity he removed it, and her body went slack, she breathed through the aftershocks, counting the number of ways she could kill him.

"Did he survive?" the man made to jab the stun gun in the same spot when she brought her feet up, knocking the stun gun out of his hand and kicking him as hard as she could in the chest. He stumbled back almost tripped over Tommy's foot before he righted himself and came back swinging, punching her in the face.

She could feel blood run down her chin from the split lip, as she looked up at the man and grinned. Which seemed to throw him off even more, "Why are you smiling?"

"You hit like a girl."

For which she received another punch to the face and a stun gun in her stomach for good measure.

* * *

 **Oliver's POV**

Oliver always had a love hate relationship with drugs, before the island, drugs (not that he did the hard stuff, he always preferred to get drunk) were an awesome way to have a great time and forget about his responsibilities and the disappoint he was to his parents, on the island they were a luxury that dulled the pain of any injure he sustained, but now right now he really hated them. He was being rocked back and forth and the drugs allowed his mind to dig up some of his worst memories.

* * *

 _He remembered his first taste of the cold, the bone chilling, mind numbing cold that would become his constant companion in the coming years. The next thing was the rocking of the raft and the moon light being the only way to see until his father had turned on the emergency lamp hanging above them._

 _He had been huddled up next to his father trying to get warm when he had a water bottle forced into his hands. He could barely grip it as he watched his father do the same for the pretty young nurse, who was next to him._

" _Here both of you drink." His father told them, helping the nurse grip the bottle and bring it to her lips._

" _What the hell are you doing? That's all we've got!" The crewman yelled over the howl of the wind._

" _If anyone is making it out of here it's going to be them." His father yelled as he pulled the young woman toward him and tucked her into his side, rubbing his hands up and down her arms trying to get her warm._

 _Oliver could tell even in the minimal light that her lips were blue and he could hear her teeth chattering. When she finally stopped shivering, his father looked between them, "I am so sorry, I thought I would have more time. I am not the man you think I am, I didn't build our city. I failed it and I wasn't the only one."_

* * *

Darkness was the first thing that registered to Oliver as his mind finally came back to the present, he was also zipped tied to a chair not that was really a problem. He could hear someone moving around in front of him, he must have moved because the person came closer.

"Mr. Queen?" the man asked as he ripped the black hood off of Oliver's head.

Everything slowly came into focus but he didn't miss the stun gun that the man shoved in front of his face.

"Did your father survive that accident?"

Oliver only half heard him as he glanced around the room, Tommy was unconscious laying on a pallet, and Kyra was tied to a chair on his right, he couldn't tell if she was awake or not but by the blood on her shirt she must have put up a fight at some point.

The masked man obviously didn't like being ignored as he moved and blocked his view of Kyra, "I ask the questions, you give me the answers."

Oliver played up the dazed and confused look on his face as he flexed his wrists testing the strength of the zip-ties. The masked man turned his back and looked to one of his companions. Amateurs, he thought briefly before the thug drove the stun gun into his chest.

Oliver couldn't help the yell of pain that escaped, as much as he had been through in the last five years, electricity and the human body still were not compatible and being reminded of it still sucked. At least he knew Kyra was awake as he watched her twitch slightly at his yell.

He grunted through the pain, counting the ways he could kill the man with just one hand. The thug was impatient and got back into this face, the idiot had obviously never done this before as most people would be a pile of goo on the floor let alone still conscious and able to answer questions.

"Did he make it to the island? Did he tell you anything?"

Oliver didn't answer and the man shoved the stun gun back into this chest, this time he was prepared and relaxed his body a second before contact. He just grunted and breathed through the pain, in the corner of his eye he saw Kyra peak through her hair, she gave a slight nod of her head, telling she was ready for whatever he had planned.

When he finally got his breath back he decided to answer, "Yes, he did."

"What did he tell you, Mr. Queen?"

Oliver took four deep breaths and looked up, "He told me we're going to kill you."

The three idiots thought they were safe, "You're delusional. You're zip-cuffed to that chair."

He slowly brought his hand forward from behind his back and paused for a moment wondering if it truly registered in the thugs' minds what was about to happen.

"Not anymore."

The thug with the stun gun lunged forward but he ducked out of the way pulled the chair up to use as cover. The idiot tried to punch him through the chair, as Oliver kicked is legs out from under him. He nailed the next goon in the face with the chair and left him to Kyra's good graces as he swung around pulling off a broken piece of chair and stabbed stun-gun-happy thug in the chest. He quickly grabbed the stun gun from his hand and turned the man's body around as a shield, ready to shove the weapon into the second thug's neck. But discovered he didn't need to as Kyra had him in one of her favorite chokeholds.

The third masked goon made himself known by opening fire, both Oliver and Kyra ducked behind their human shields, waiting until he ran out of ammo. Finally, they all heard the distinctive click, click of the gun and the goon took one look at them and turned high tailing it as fast as possible.

They watched him flee knowing he wouldn't get very far, "Go."

It was all Oliver had to say and Kyra was off after her prey, moving quickly, silently, and deadly. He would let her track the goon giving him time to collect himself and check on Tommy.

When he was satisfied that Tommy was in no real danger, he took off after in pursuit. It wasn't hard to pinpoint which way the idiot went, with how much noise he was making, that along with the bird calls Kyra was giving told Oliver exactly where he was going.

He finally caught up with them both and sprinted through a doorway only to be yanked out of the way by Kyra, as the goon turned and opened fire, obviously having found time to reload. Neither Oliver nor Kyra stopped moving both jumping and grabbing the half wall in the staircase. Hauling themselves up they followed as the goon raced across the room and out onto a roof top.

As the goon made his way toward the staircase on the other side his pursuers moved in perfect sync and balance, launching themselves off the roof top, rolling and coming to their feet never pausing, never stopping. Oliver yanked Kyra down as their target turned and opened fire, forcing them into a slide along the roof. They both launched themselves off the edge using their momentum and gravity to climb down the walls until they were on the same level as the goon. They continued to chase him through the maze of buildings, the goon getting more and more desperate.

Finally, they entered another warehouse and Oliver knew it was time to stop this, the goon obviously wasn't going to make it much farther if his ragged breathing was anything to go by. Kyra seemed to read his mind as they both took the high ground running parallel alongside the desperate man, who in a last ditch attempt to survive opened fire on them. Neither flinched nor slowed down as they launched themselves into the air, reaching out for the chains that hung in front of them. Using their momentum, they swung around and dropped in front of the goon who was struggling to reload. Kyra landed first, landing a solid punch to the goon's jaw, knocking him off balance allowing Oliver as he landed to grab him and place him in a reverse chokehold.

The goon struggled against Oliver's grip, flailing his arms and kicking out his legs in a desperate attempt to escape. But Oliver's grip never let up, "You killed that man."

"You don't have to do this," the goon's pleas were muffled by Oliver's arm around his neck.

"Yes, I do. No one can know our secret." Oliver quickly glanced at Kyra and with her nodded in support, quickly broke the man's neck. A quick and painless death, much better than he probably deserved.

Both breathed deeply, taking a moment to calm their heart beats and take stock of what just happen. This obviously wasn't some random attack, these thugs had wanted specific information, which meant their time table had just been moved up.

"Kyra?"

"I'm good, Ollie."

Oliver gave her a once over, she had a split lip, her hair was sticking up like a cockatoo, probably from the black hood, and she was probably just as filthy as he was but didn't look any worst for the wear. He was knocked out of his musing when she asked about Tommy.

"Fine, when I checked him, probably have a nasty hangover from the tranquilizer."

Kyra carefully step over the body and engulf him in a hug, which he returned without a second thought. He knew coming back would be dangerous but this attack had been unexpected and made him question who they could possibly be a threat too before they even started.

Giving her one last squeeze, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and they started to make their way back to where they had left Tommy.

When they got back, they found Tommy sitting up and looking around obviously still disoriented. Kyra moved to check him out making sure he wasn't having any adverse reaction to the tranquilizer. Oliver moved over to where the bodies of the two thugs were and started searching through their pockets, coming across their phones. He moved over to Tommy and Kyra, tapping her on the shoulder before giving her the phone. She growled at him, which meant he would be paying for making her act like a damsel in distress later, and he watch as she moved off to contact 911 and let them know where they were.

* * *

"So, that's your story," Detective Quinten Lance asked in disbelief. "A guy in a green hood flew in and single handedly took out three armed kidnappers?"

The Starling City police and rescue had descended upon the warehouse less than ten minutes after Kyra's call. They had all been checked over and then driven home by uniformed officers. Dinner had been a quiet affair with both Thea and Moira being extra clingy insisting that Tommy stay the night, meaning there was no chance for either Oliver or Kyra to sneak out. The next day didn't start much better as Raisa found Detective Quinten Lance and his partner at the Queen Manor's front door ready to start the interview bright and early at 7am.

Kyra really couldn't think of a way for this day to start any worst. They were only giving enough time to change clothes before they were directed to sitting room by Raisa. Once everyone was seated, Oliver, Kyra, and Tommy on one couch and Moira and Walter on the other, with Lance seated on a chair between them and the other detective hovering in the background. It became glaringly obvious the distaste and thinly vailed hatred would not allow Lance to remain objective and the interview quickly became mockery. Lance asked them what had happened, and when Oliver told him about the hooded rescuer it had gone downhill from there.

"Who is he? Why would he do that?"

Kyra observed the room and watched as everyone waited for Oliver's reaction to Lance.

"I don't know. Find him and you can ask."

Kyra subtlety pinched Oliver in the side hoping that it would be enough to reign him in. This is why she wanted them to stay as far away from the Lances as humanly possible while residing in the same city. Oliver and the Lance family had a dark history marked by the betrayal and death of Sara. And she was sure they blamed Oliver for it, she knew he blamed himself. Having both alpha males within two feet of each for the first time since Oliver had returned was not what Kyra would call a fun time.

When Lance didn't get the answers he was looking for from Oliver he turned to Tommy next, "What about you? You see the hood guy?"

Tommy shifted uncomfortably under everyone's gaze as he stared at the police sketch of the mysterious hood guy, he shared a quick look with Oliver before answering, "I saw just movement…everything blurry… I was kinda out of it."

"Yeah." Lance sighed as if he expected the vague answer. "Ms. McCoy, what about you?"

"I am sorry Detective, I didn't see much after they didn't like my answers and knocked me out again."

It was a not so subtle jab at the detective reminding him that even though he strongly disliked both Oliver and Tommy, the three of them were the victims here. A brief look of regret graced Lance's face before it was gone and he turned his attention back to Oliver.

"It's funny, one day back and already somebodies gunning for you…. Aren't you popular?"

At that Moira chose to intervene, "Were you able to identify the men?"

"Scrubbed identities, untraceable weapons… these were pros." Lance's partner answered.

"Yeah, well they probably figured you'd pay a king's ransom to get your boy back… or a Queen's ransom as it were."

Awkward silence fell and just when Kyra thought it couldn't get any worst Lance opened his mouth, "After all a parent would do anything to keep their child safe."

"I don't find you tone appropriate Detective."

Kyra had never been more grateful for Moira Queen's lioness instincts to protect her cub than now, each time Lance had taken a jab at Oliver, she had felt him get more and more tense. No one else would have noticed the subtle shift in his shoulders, how he leaned forward slightly as if preparing for an attack. She knew Oliver would never attack first as it would jeopardize their mission but when it came down to it if Lance threw the first punch she wasn't sure she would stop Oliver from knocking Lance on his ass.

She understood that the Detective and his older daughter experienced a tragedy and they perhaps had a right to be angry with Oliver but they were able to mourn and move on. While she and Oliver lived through hell with only their greatest mistakes and regrets to keep them company on the island.

Walter stood and in a split second Kyra could see why he was the respected and powerful CEO of Queen Consolidated, his presence commanded everyone's attention. "If Oliver or Ms McCoy can think of anything else, we'll be in touch. Thank you gentlemen for coming."

They all heard the clear dismissal and stood. As Lance placed the sketch back into his brief case for safe keeping he paused at Oliver's shoulder, "You're luck never seems to run out… does it?"

From there the detectives were shown out by Raisa leaving the rest of them to sort through the feelings that had been stirred up.

"Well, if no one needs me I am going take a nice long bath." Kyra didn't even wait for a response and made her way toward her room.

After her relaxing bath, Kyra dug through the mounds of clothes Thea had left for her and found a comfortable pair of yoga pants and a sweat shirt to throw on before she went in search of Oliver.

She found him in his room, and he barely glanced up from his computer when she walked in.

"Laptop is on the couch." Was his not so subtle way of telling her it was her job to order supplies while he researched their first target.

She retrieved the laptop and climbed into the middle of his bed and finding a comfortable spot among the pillows.

"Who?" was all she needed to ask.

"Adam Hunt." Oliver answered as he paged through a small well-worn book on his desk.

She just nodded, both becoming so absorbed in their tasks that they almost didn't notice the presence in the doorway.

"You are different. Not like you to read a book."

As Raisa moved into the room carrying a tray full of breakfast goodies, they both quickly minimized the tasks on their desktops.

"I missed you, Raisa."

She just gave Oliver a fond smile, "No kitchen on the island?"

"No…" Oliver spared Kyra a quick glance, "No friends either."

In response she flipped him her middle finger behind Raisa's back. Oliver just grinned as he got up and took the tray from Raisa putting it at the end of his bed.

"Do I really seem different?"

"No," Raisa responded softly, "You're still a good boy."

At Kyra's snort, Oliver just grimaced and responded, "I think we both know I wasn't."

"But a good heart."

"I hope so…. I want to be the person you always told me I could be."

Raisa gave Oliver a fond smile before telling they couldn't leave until their plates were clean, not that was too much of a hardship as her cooking was amazing. Once both plates were empty and Raisa was satisfied they wouldn't fall over from hunger she left with the tray, wishing them both a good day, and promising one of Oliver's favorite desserts for after dinner.

"I like her."

Oliver just grinned at Kyra, "You like her because that means you don't have to cook anymore."

Kyra tried to look offended by Oliver's observation but finally just gave up and nodded, "Don't lie you were thinking the same thing. And I can see that she truly cares about you, I don't think I've seen her do anything but smile since I came here."

A ping from the laptop sitting on the bed drew their attention.

"Got confirmation, we're good to go." Kyra called out as she left his room in order to change into more suitable attire.

* * *

Oliver nodded and moved to make sure his computer was secure and no one would stumble across his research. Kyra wasn't down yet by the time he reached the front door, so he made his way outside to wait by the car.

He didn't get very far before his mother called out, drawing his attention to her, Walter, and a third man in a suit.

"Oliver, I want you to introduce you to someone…. John Diggle."

Oliver eyed the stoic man over his mother's shoulder. The man carried himself like a soldier who had seen battle, he could see the haunted look in his eyes.

"… he will be accompanying you from now on."

Oliver's assessment came to a screeching halt when his mother's words finally registered, "I don't need a babysitter."

Oliver quickly looked to Walter for support, "Darling, Oliver's a grown man. If he doesn't feel like he needs our protection…."

Moira quickly stepped back in, "I understand, but this is something I need."

With that Oliver knew he couldn't say no, anything to give his mother peace of mind. Because he was sure she would probably murdered him herself if she found out what he was planning to with his night life. Giving his new body guard one more glance over, to which the man didn't even blink at, Oliver finally conceded, he just didn't know how he was going to live it down when Kyra found out.

Which she did not two minutes later, casually slinking out the front door her fingers flying across the key board on her new phone. She almost ran into Oliver before she looked up and took in the scene.

Looking from Oliver, to Moira and Walter, to the third man behind them, "Did I miss something?"

With introductions made Kyra followed Oliver into the back of the sleek black town car, she was still having a of a hard time imaging Oliver with a body guard and she was half torn between laughing at him or smacking him across the back of the head for adding one more complication into their already complicated plan.

They rode in silence the entire way to the city, she wasn't even sure where Oliver had told Mr. Diggle to drive them but she knew they would never reach that destination. Neither had put their seatbelts on, ready at a moments notice to jump into action. She almost felt bad for what they were about to do to the guy, it wasn't his fault he was just doing his job.

They must be getting close to their destination because Oliver finally breaks the silence, "So….what do we call you?"

Kyra was half afraid that Oliver's new shadow was mute before he finally answered, "Diggle's good…. Dig if you want."

Oliver gave a half smile in victory at finally getting the man to talk, "You're ex-military?"

"Yes sir… 105th airborne out of Kandahar… retired… been in the private sector a little over four years now. I don't want there to been any confusion Mr. Queen, my ability to keep you safe from harm will outweigh your comfort."

Kyra slowly reached for the door handle once Oliver got Diggle talking about himself, Oliver mirrored her moments. She reached over to his leg and slowly tapped in rhythm, they had to time this just right to get out of the car and vanish before anyone saw them. By the time Diggle was informing Oliver about his lack of comfort they were both out the door, doing a tuck and roll to lessen the impact, and up and running before their car doors even closed. They ran into a side alley and quickly climbed the fire escapes… wanting to avoid street cameras.

Kyra grinned when she heard the squealing tires as Diggle locked up the brakes coming to a skidding halt.

"I almost feel bad for him."

Oliver threw her a look of disbelief and she just rolled her eyes, "I said almost."

They quickly made their way across they roof tops of the city to the Glades. It was child's play jumping between rooftops and wires after spending five years on a death trap of an island.

Kyra dug out her phone to confirm the drop site, it was a dumpster behind a place called Big Belly Burgers. In it they found four bags, with clothes and other necessities to allow them to move and work unseen and unhindered in the Glades.

They walked the five blocks to the old Queen Steel factory, passing dozens of homeless, the state of decay of the city became even more clear to them as they moved among those affected the most.

The fences surrounding the factory were still solid which was a good thing as they didn't want just anyone stumbling across their base of operations.

Kyra dropped her bags on the ground before taking four big steps back, she sprinted forward using a pile of old shipping pallets to help launch herself high enough to grab the top of the fence. Once she had safely landed on her feet, Oliver tossed their gear bags over and followed.

The door groaned in protest as the forced it open, they both paused taking in their new surroundings. There was barely enough light coming from the doorway to penetrate the gloom, the floor was scattered with old paperwork, as if no one had cared how they left the once prosperous factory to fall into ruin.

Kyra moved further into the factory trying to find the best place to access the lower level, when she found a suitable spot she turned to tell Oliver, only to find him crouched down picking up an old Queen Consolidated Annual Report, staring at Robert Queen's face.

"Come on Ollie, we have a lot of work to do, if we want to move up our time table."

It took them just under four days to get their equipment set up and ready. They had to be conscious of the time they spent away from the Queen Mansion as to not draw to much attention to themselves. Getting all the supplies they needed was also time consuming and often meant Kyra would be going out on her own to the drop sites to pick up the equipment their contacts had acquired.

Between making supply runs and making sure they made their daily appearances at the Queen manor, both Kyra and Oliver fell back into the rhythm of training, instead of using nature as their obstacle course the guts of the factory was their new play ground.

They took to running the different levels, trying to one up each other on the salmon ladder Oliver installed, and using the piping along the ceiling as a workout station.

"You know if the pipes give way and you fall, I am just going to laugh at you." Kyra said as she eyed Oliver doing his 98th crunch while being suspended from the ceiling. She had just finished her own set and was stretching to cool down.

Kyra was tracking their target when Oliver heaved the green chest they had brought back with them on to the table. She set the system to alert them of any developments and spun in her chair, watching as Oliver carefully uncovered and lifted his most prized possession out of its confinement. A beautifully handcrafted bow. An elegant but deadly weapon, a weapon in the hands of Oliver or herself could be used for doing good or to commit terrible evil.

She watched as he strapped the quiver to his back and stepped into position facing the empty wall beyond their equipment. She didn't even blink as Oliver released tennis balls and pinned them to the concrete wall with deadly accuracy.

She glanced at the time on the computer, "Eleven seconds, not bad."

She got up and stretched on her way over to a black case resting on a nearby table. She grinned as she opened it and retrieved her welcome home gift from Oliver, a sleek and shine new bow, perfect for her size and fighting style. "My turn."

While on the island they had both learned how to use a bow, but it was an unspoken decision between the two of them that the cherished part of the legacy of their teachers, who were now lost to them, would fall to Oliver in the form of the bow from the island.

By the time they were done training for the day the concrete wall looked like a pin cushion of green and blue fletched arrows. Kyra was just about to call a rematch when the computer search looking to Adam Hunt alerted them to a new broadcast.

Kyra quickly set her bow down and turned up the volume, a picture of both Adam Hunt and Laurel Lance were shown side by side as the reported filled the audience in "…the suit alleges Hunt committed multiple acts of theft and fraud against the cities underprivileged. Laurel Lance, an attorney for the city…"

The rest of the report was drown out by the smack upside the head that Kyra delivered to Oliver.

"Seriously, Oliver?"

Kyra just shook her head as she moved off, gathering her gear, knowing now that Laurel was involved there would be no rest until they had taken Hunt down.

"Hunt's crimes are deeper than just fraud or theft, he has been able to bully, bribe, or kill anyone who gets in his way." Oliver explained as he moved to help her lay out their weapons.

"I get that Ollie, he's the King of assholes and needs to be stopped, but next time you pick a target lets not make it about redeeming yourself with Laurel."

Oliver opened his mouth to respond but Kyra cut him off, "Nope, there is nothing you can say that will change the reason why we are going after Hunt first. You forget Oliver I know you better than you know yourself most of the time. Now go grab your hood, and lets go scare the crap out of some bad guys."

It took them about twenty minutes to suit up and stow all their weapons, each carrying their bows and full quivers along with knives and devices that would aid them. In addition Kyra carried two metal batons strapped to each side of her quiver, a backup if it came down to hand to hand combat. Almost everything they carried was custom made to make it harder to trace back to them. They might be working from the shadows but they weren't naïve to think that what they were about to do would go unnoticed. Oliver was decked out in a deep green leathers where Kyra was in a deep blue. Hoods covered their faces and they lined their eyes with grease paint.

Kyra took a look in the mirror before they left and grimaced, "Grease paint is not my friend… we need to rethink this whole concealing our identities thing."

Oliver promptly ignored her.

* * *

If you had asked Kyra five years ago if she ever saw herself jumping from roof top to roof top hunting down criminals, she probably would have laughed so hard she would have fallen over. But a lot can change in five years and you can decided to do things you never thought possible when pushed past you thought you can do. For example, what she was doing right now, getting ready to shoot arrows at a known and dangerous criminal just to see what he would do.

They that been able to track down Hunt's usual haunts and it was just a matter of waiting for the computer system to track down his whereabouts. They had found Hunt and his underlings in an underground parking structure Hunt owned.

They moved silently through the shadows taking up the best positions to make sure their prey didn't get away. Hunt was flanked by two huge bodyguards, each in stiff, shiny suits and looked like they could wrestle a grizzle bear and win.

"Paranoid much," Kyra whispered over the coms as she moved into place. Her job as to take out the lights and make sure none escaped, she was more than happy to leave the theatrics to Oliver.

They waited as the third of Hunt's lackeys moved off and Kyra managed to place a tracking chip on him as he pasted by her, not even knowing she was there.

"Go."

She drew back her bow and released as arrow causing the lights over head to spark and go dim, leaving the parking garage lit in emergency lights only. Oliver didn't even wait for the last of the sparks to die away as he released the first of his arrows, hitting the bodyguard to Hunt's right in the chest, sending him to the ground with a pained cry.

The second bodyguard was already in motion by the time Hunt registered they were under attack. Hunt was all but thrown into the back of his car while the bodyguard pulled his gun and fired behind them, the complete opposite direction Kyra and Oliver were hidden.

Kyra muttered idiot under her breathe as she moved into position where she had a clear shot of the back window to the car.

"Hey…." Oliver called, "You missed."

The guy didn't even have time to raise his gun as Oliver fired to arrows into his chest. Oliver leapt up on the roof of the car as Kyra fired her arrow into the backseat of the car, shattering the glass. She reached in a yanked the cowering man out of his hiding place and stepped back as Hunt got his first glimpse of who was attacking him.

Oliver sat perched on the roof of the car an arrow loaded and ready to fire, pointed straight as Hunt's heart.

"Woah! Woah! Just…just tell me what you want."

Oliver paused for a moment making sure Hunt wasn't going to move before hopping off the car and grabbing him by his jacket, and dragging Hunt to his feet.

"You're going to transfer 40 million dollars into Starling City Bank account number 1141 by 10pm tomorrow night."

"Or what?"

"Or we're going to take it and you won't like how." Kyra answered as she stepped out to the shadows causing Hunt to jump.

Kyra began to move off toward the exit, letting Oliver get his last few seconds of intimidation in before he followed her.

They hadn't even made it twenty feet from Hunt when he decided to find his backbone and threaten them, "If I see you again, you dead."

They moved in sync, Oliver turning and firing an arrow into the back window of the car and Kyra feeling that they hadn't quit got their point across, let an arrow graze Hunt's cheek leaving a thin red line of blood in its wake.

By the time Hunt turned back from looking at the damage, both the hoods were gone.

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	6. Chapter 6

When they had finally gotten back to the Queen Mansion it was almost 4 am, Oliver rolled his eyes as Kyra grunted a good night and stalked silently down the hall to her room. He knew he won't see her again til probably noon, she was never a morning person even on the island.

He made his way to his own room and quickly changed into a tee shirt and light sleeping pants, he checked his messages and was happy to see that Tommy was still a miracle worker when it came to throwing huge parties.

Oliver hadn't wanted a welcome home bash even if it would have helped play up his per-island party boy persona, but they needed cover and a distraction if Hunt didn't follow through with his end. And a loud party was just the way to draw attention to him but still allow him to slip way unnoticed. Even better when the venue Tommy was able to secure was right next to Hunt's office building.

As he finally let himself relax and drift off to sleep, he could only hope his father would be proud of what they were trying to accomplish.

* * *

Kyra finally rolled out of bed around 11am, showered, and made her way down to the kitchen hoping to find some of Raisa's tasty treats for her breakfast. She wasn't successful in finding treats but what she did find was the woman herself in the middle of preparing a lunch, she turned as to not interrupt but Raisa saw her and insisted she wait while she whipped something up.

Kyra was nursing her second cup of coffee when Raisa spoke, "Thank You."

"Pardon me," Kyra asked in confusion.

"I wanted to thank you for helping Mr. Oliver get home safe. This family needs him." Raisa didn't even look up from the plate of eggs, hash browns, and bacon she was preparing for Kyra.

Kyra sat in kinda of a stunned silence for a moment, it was clear to her Raisa cared greatly for the family she worked for, "No thanks necessary, we really helped save each other to be honest."

Raisa placed the plate in front of her and gave her a nod before moving off to finish preparing lunch.

* * *

It was nearly 8pm when both Oliver and Kyra were ready to depart for their welcome home bash. They had snuck out in the early afternoon to stash their gear and get the layout of the venue.

Oliver was dressed in a suit and button up shirt with no tie, whereas Kyra wore a black knee-length cocktail dress, complete with bright royal blue six-inch heels.

Oliver opened the car door for Kyra, slightly puzzled as to where their constant shadow had gotten off to, which was soon answered as he almost sat in Kyra's lap, since she didn't move over. When he bent down and glanced into the backseat he found Diggle seated with a slight smirk on his face.

"Put on your seat belts please….we wouldn't want you to miss your party."

Kyra finally scooted over allowing Oliver to climb in, neither commenting. They would give Diggle this win as they would be ditching him later in the evening.

When they pulled up to the venue, Oliver could honestly admit Tommy had not lost his touch. They could hear the music and feel the bass from inside the car. Diggle graciously gave Kyra a hand to help her out of the car and then followed behind them.

They were fashionably late to the party and from the top of the staircase it looked like all of Starling City young elites had come out to welcome the castaways back. Or more specifically Oliver.

Music was playing, lights were flashing, and people were dancing. Everyone had a drink in their hand and seemed to be waiting for the late arrivals. Oliver spotted Tommy in the crowd surrounded by five beautiful women, it was like a flash back to five years before, it seemed almost like Starling City had frozen unchanging in that time, but Oliver knew that to be untrue.

Oliver was brought back to realty by the soft touch on his arm, Kyra always knew how to read him. He gave her a slight nod, telling her he was okay, before presenting his elbow, as to escort her down the stairs to the party.

With her hand tucked in the crook of his elbow they moved silently down the stairs, no one having noticed their arrival yet. Oliver dug is phone out of his jacket pocket and quickly checked the time 9:07pm and no indication of the money being transferred. He showed Kyra and she sighed, "We're going to have to do this the hard way, aren't we?"

Oliver didn't get a chance to respond as Tommy turned finally noticing their arrival, the glint in his eye didn't bode well for a quiet entrance. Taking a deep breath, Oliver slipped into his old persona of play boy and partier.

Tommy quickly climbed the stairs meeting them about ten steps from the bottom, he signaled for the DJ to cut the music and Oliver could feel Kyra tense. She wasn't ever one for the spot light but this couldn't be avoided, she was famous not because she survived a ship wreck and five years as a castaway, no the spot light was firmed planted on her because she had survived alongside Oliver Queen.

Oliver gently squeezed her hand before stepping next to Tommy, allowing her to remain a few steps behind them, placing all the attention on himself.

Tommy just grinned at them, oblivious of both their discomfort and the fake personas they were putting forth. He grabbed Oliver by the shoulder and yelled out to the crowd, "Everybody….man of the hour!"

The crowd went wild, all raising their drinks in welcome and cheering. Oliver just plastered a smile on his face and prayed to higher power listening they could both make it through the night.

"…and ladies, pleased give this man a proper homecoming…"

Oliver hid his grimace as he made his way down the stair into the waiting throngs of women and booze. He didn't need to look behind him to know Kyra had already slipped off into the shadows.

The DJ started playing 'We are the Champions' by Queen, a little on the nose, but everyone was already well on their way to being drunk that it really didn't matter.

Oliver knew he couldn't just ignore the crowd all night, that he needed everyone to believe his was still his old self so he made his way to one of the tables at the center of the room and hopped up.

After being on an island with only one person for constant company it was a little daunting to be up in front of everyone, all of a sudden Oliver came up with a rather wicked idea and knew he would pay for it but the opportunity was too good to pass up.

"Thank you very much everybody!" He shouted out to the crowd getting them to quiet down.

Tommy shouted up to him and handed up a shot to Tequila, but before he did the shot, he scanned the crowd calling out, "Kyra….Kyra McCoy get you castaway ass up here."

Oliver could feel the heat coming off the glare Kyra that was directing toward him, but he didn't care, they both needed an alibi so she needed to be seen by everyone.

Oliver watched as the crowd parted and Kyra made her way gracefully over toward him. Yup, he would defiantly be paying for this little stunt later.

Tommy helped lift Kyra up on to the table, and then handed her his shot. Oliver just grinned knowing she would have to play along with whatever and she couldn't retaliate. He lifted the shot up and watched as Kyra did the same. Everyone watched in anticipation, and Oliver knew that his old self wouldn't disappoint them, so he shouted, "I missed Tequila."

The cheer that went up was almost deafening and Oliver knew that he had them believing the façade.

"Let's get back to the party!"

Oliver hopped down from the table and then helped Kyra down.

"That was not the plan." She whispered, planting a fake smile on her face as she was greeted by the crowd.

They made their way over to the bar, Oliver didn't even manage to order a drink because of all the women coming up to greet him. Kyra dug out her phone under the pretense of checking her messages and let them both know they only had less than half an hour before the deadline was up.

As Tommy came waltzing over, obviously very pleased with himself, he took notice of Oliver and Kyra's shadow.

"So does he wipe for you too?" He asked with a grin.

All three of them looked over to where Diggle was standing, when the man didn't react to being gawked at, Tommy quickly moved on to what seemed to be his favorite topic, Oliver's sex life.

"So by my rough estimate, you both," and he eyed Oliver and Kyra in this, "have not had sex in 1,839 days."

Oliver played up his grimace but didn't correct him. Kyra took another shot, "I am not drunk enough for this conversation."

"As your wingman," Tommy turned them all around so they were facing the dance floor, "I highly recommend Carmen Golden and for the lovely lady, William Brookfield."

"Speaking from experience there, Tommy?" came Kyra's sarcastic reply.

"Which one is she?" Oliver asked, trying desperately to sound like he was interested, like old times.

"The one that looks like the chick from Twilight."

"What's Twilight?" Both Oliver and Kyra asked at the same time, while staring at the three women dancing on the table in front of them.

Tommy grimaced and replied, "You are both so better off not knowing."

Oliver was brought out of his gazing by a poke to the shoulder and Kyra nodding toward what she saw off to their left.

In the middle of the dance floor stood Thea and her friends, both Oliver and Kyra watched as she passed what could only be a wad of cash over to a shifty looking young man and receive a bag in return.

Oliver nodded his head toward the drug dealer and Kyra moved off, slipping through the crowd as if she was the only one in the room. Oliver trusted her to make a strong impression on the young man and redirect his path in life on a better route.

"Back in a minute." Oliver moved off to where Thea and her friends were standing.

* * *

Thea and her friends were moving with the beat of the music, Oliver knew he must have had a pissed off look on his face when he reached them, because Thea's friends took one look at him and took three steps back. This allowed him to grab Thea and pull her off the dance floor.

He was pretty sure she had already managed to get a fair amount of alcohol in her system because she didn't seem fazed at all.

"Ollie… hey… this party is sick!" she yelled over the music.

When he was sure they would be able to hear each other he turned her to face him.

"Who let you in here?"

Thea obviously wasn't expecting an interrogation as she fumble with her response but she recovered quickly with a grin, "I…I mean…I think it was someone who said right this way Ms. Queen."

Oliver wasn't impressed, "Well, you shouldn't be here."

"Ollie… I'm not twelve anymore."

"No, you're seventeen!"

"Ollie… I love you, but you can't come back here and judge me. Especially, for being just like you."

Oliver took a deep breath and reminded himself she had a point, but at the same time he couldn't let it go. She was his baby sister and she was doing a great job following his dumbass example, he knew what was at the end of this road and he wanted to stop her before she did something she would regret forever.

"I know that it couldn't have been easy for you while I was away…"

"Away….no you died! My brother and my father died… I went to your funerals."

"I know." Oliver interrupted, but Thea wouldn't let him continue.

"No! You don't know… you don't…Mom had Walter…and I had no one. You guys all act like its cool… lets forget about the last five years. Well I can't. For me, its kinda permanently in there, so I'm sorry I turned out some major disappointment… but this… me… was the best I could do, with what I had to work with."

Thea looked over his shoulder to her friends and turned, "Lets go!"

Oliver just stood there as he watched his sister walk away from him. Another thing he would have to get used to was the twelve year old version of Thea that he always pictured in his mind, the happy go lucky kid, was now a very grownup angry version, who was taking a page out of his book and drowning her feelings and frustrations in partying, booze, and drugs.

The only thing keeping him from going after her was the fact he had managed to pickpocket her newly acquired drugs out of her purse without her knowing.

He made his way through the crowd intent on finding Kyra so they could slip away, he paused at a garbage can to toss the drugs and caught Diggle giving him a slight nod in approval. Oliver turned to go hoping to slip into the crowd and lose his shadow, when he bumped into someone.

He grabbed her arms to steady her and opened his mouth to apologize when he realized it was Laurel, "Oh...you're here?"

"Tommy… he made a point that we have too many years between us to… leave things the way that we left them."

Oliver was just a little stunned that she was actually talking to him especially after the way their last conversation had ended. So when she suggested a quieter place to talk he didn't hesitate.

As they walked away, neither of them saw Tommy eyeing them from the bar.

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	7. Chapter 7

Kyra made her way through the crowd, watching as the drug dealer made four more sales before he reached the bar. She knew she needed to get him alone before she could convey her disapproval at his current life choices, so she pulled her college party days back from her long forgotten memories and walked drunkenly over to the bar.

She giggled as she tripped, purposely knocking into the dealer, and then stole his drink downing it before he could object. She slammed the glass down and gave him her best flirty smile, "Sorry, but I really needed that."

"Ah, well who am I to deny a beautiful woman something she needs."

She forced herself not to roll her eyes at the horrible flirting and forced a girlish giggle, "Well, maybe there is something else you can help me with."

The young man moved closer and ran his hand up her arm while staring at her chest, "and what might that be?"

If it would have been in any other situation she would have probably broken his hand, punched him in the face, and maybe kneed him in the man parts but she couldn't cause a scene so she moved closer to his ear and whispered, "I heard that you're the guy to talk to for something to spice up the party."

She heard the hitch in his breathing and mentally patted herself on the back for still having game even after being stuck on a hellish island for five years. He reached for shot and downed it, "Yeah, I can definitely help you with that."

She grinned at him, "Good… but lets go somewhere where we can talk a little business."

She walked away from the bar, turning to look over her shoulder just once, in time to see the young man down another shot before following her. She led them to the service entrance to the kitchens, once the door closed behind him and there was no one in sight, she turned around and punched idiot in the face, the kid yelped and grabbed his nose.

"You bitch!" he yelled through his fingers as he reached for the pocket knife hidden in his boot. He fumbled with getting it open and managed to cut his own hand.

She just rolled her eyes, "Seriously? You do know you're supposed to threaten me with the pointy end right? How old are you again?"

The kid lunged for her, she simply side stepped, allowing his momentum to run him straight into the opposite wall. He didn't have time to recover as she pushed him flat against the wall and grabbed the arm with the knife. She wrenched his arm up his back and quickly took the knife from his hand, "I'll just hold onto that, we wouldn't wanted you to hurt yourself more, now would we?"

He yelped in pain and cursed at her making threats that both of them knew he couldn't make good on. He struggled but there was nothing he could do as she emptied his pockets of cash, drugs, and his wallet.

She really could care less about the drugs and cash, what she wanted was information. Threatening someone in person was a good tactic but the fear usually didn't last long once the threat and pain went away. But when you know who they were, were they lived, and who they hold dear, that's when you knew that your threats would be remembered.

"So, Kyle Ramirez, wow that's a horrible driver's license photo, 19 years old… aw you're just a baby drug dealer… who lives at 541 South Kohler Street, Starling City, USA…that's in the Glades right… like two blocks over from the old Queen Steel Mill…. Oh cute family… is this your mom?" as each piece of information passed her lips she could feel her captive grow more tense and a little more desperate.

He kicked at her to which she just forced his arm farther up his back, it wouldn't cause permeant damage but it sure hurt like a bitch.

"When I get free…I am gonna press charges for assault and sue your sweet little ass for all its worth."

"First off, you would get like fifty eight cents cuz I think that was all I had in my bank account, second… pressing charges and tell the cops what ….a 120 pound woman in a dress and six inch heels roughed you up… yeah good luck with that, third… I know I have a great ass but show a little respect. Now Kyle, this is how its going to go… I am gonna take this license for safe keeping, you are going to go home, kiss your mother, and sign up for some college classes, earn a degree, get a job, find a girl, have some kids, and have a great boring life. And if I ever see or hear that you are dealing drugs or doing any other illegal shit… the cops will be the least of your problems. Do you understand?"

When he didn't answer, she pushed his arm farther, earning a pained grunt from him, "I didn't get that… do you understand?"

"Yes," he grunted through clenched teeth.

"Good… oh and don't worry I will have some friends drop by to make sure you're keeping your nose clean."

Satisfied that her threat was clearly understood, she snaked her free arm around his neck and quickly rendered him unconscious. She didn't really think he would go to the cops but she couldn't afford the complication tonight so she dragged him to the nearest storage closet and dumped him inside.

As she straightened her skirt, her phone began to vibrate, the alarm going off indicating it was 10pm, she opened the app showing that the Starling Citizens Bank account 1141 still had a balance of zero.

She sighed before walking down the hall toward where they had stored their gear, throwing the knife, drugs, and cash in one of the trash bins she passed.

* * *

She turned a corner and found Oliver gently setting his unconscious bodyguard on the ground… "Hey, I thought we liked Diggle."

The look of exasperation Oliver gave her was enough for Kyra to raise her hands, "No judgement… I left my guy in a closet that smelled like old gym socks and puke."

They each grabbed an arm and dragged the larger man over to a closet and after they were sure no one had seen them they made their way to the stairwell.

Kyra pulled off her heels as they climbed the stairs to the roof, she sighed in relief.

"You know if you want to torture someone just make them stand in six inch heels for an hour and they'll sing like a canary."

"I will keep that in mind for the next time." Oliver said as he opened the roof access door.

They quickly made their way over the gear bags and quickly changed. After they had strapped their weapons and greased up their faces, for which Kyra complained yet again and Oliver ignored her, they made their way to the edge of the building, eyeing the police presence on the street.

"Ready?" Kyra asked as she drew an arrow fixed with a grappling hook and cable, she moved farther down the roof to get a clear shot of her target.

"Ready," Oliver answered as he did the same.

He aimed high to the 20th floor which held Hunt's personal offices, he released the arrow and once he was sure it was secure, Kyra released hers.

Hers hit its target on the side of the building next to Hunts, which would give them access to the service alley between the buildings and allow them to gain entrance through the service door.

They secured the ends of the cables to the roof and moved over to Kyra's line, she went first hopping on the edge and timing her decent to avoid being spotted by the flashing lights. Oliver was right behind her. The police were so focused on the front door that there was minimal security at the back.

They moved quickly Oliver forcing the door open and Kyra knocking out the two guards before they could radio in, they then made their way to the elevators, once they had entered and Oliver hit the button for the 20th floor, Kyra pulled out small tablet quickly hacking into the buildings systems ready to cut the lights.

At floor 18 Oliver gave her the signal and she cut the lights, and they moved into position each on either side of the doors.

The ding signaled their arrival and the doors weren't even completely open before they began their assault. Each took aim and fired an arrow taking out the two guards by the office doors. That only left four in the lobby.

Kyra swung low aiming for the knees of the guard to the left of them where as Oliver went high hitting the one on the right in the face. Both men were caught off guard and didn't even have time to react as the pair moved in prefect sync and switched positions, Kyra spinning and taking out thug two's knees while Oliver finished off thug one with a solid punch.

"Four down." Kyra called as she threw a dagger at one of the last two thugs standing, knocking his gun out of his hand.

Oliver followed suit but threw his bow at the last one. He took a running leap using the wall to gain height as he descended upon his opponent, he landed on the thug's shoulders and used his momentum to roll them both, flinging the man off the side where Kyra finished him with a kick to the face.

"Your boss in there? We need to have a little chat with him." Kyra asked the last thug standing.

The man looked between the two archers, before reaching for his backup piece. He wasn't quick enough to even draw it before Kyra was on him elbowing him to the face, stripping the gun out of his hand, and kicking him through the glass doors of Hunt's private office.

The moment the thug sailed into the office, the goons on the other side opened fire. Both Oliver and Kyra quickly moved to the shadows before firing arrows into the two hired guns in the room. They moved into the room Oliver firing an arrow over Hunt's shoulder and into his desk, while Kyra kept Hunt in place by drawing her own arrow and aiming it for his heart.

Hunt followed the path of the arrow and looked back at the archers, "You missed."

"Really?" Oliver answered.

Neither Oliver nor Kyra were prepared for the head thug to lunge at Oliver, knocking them both back into Kyra, allowing Hunt to escape from behind his desk and call for backup.

Oliver and the head thug quickly began trading vicious blows back and forth, both aim to incapacitate at the very least, or kill if it came down to it.

Kyra scrambled to her feet chasing after Hunt, she didn't make it very far when the elevator opened four more thugs poured into the lobby. She moved swiftly taking out one of the guys before they even managed to get a shot off, but that cost her the element of surprise and she was forced to take cover as the three remaining thugs opened fire.

She pulled out two more daggers before judging where her attackers were in the room and dropped spinning into a crouch, releasing two of the daggers and hitting both her targets in the heart.

The last man was reloading when she came charging out, grabbed the wrist with the gun, spinning into her opponent, placing her back to his chest, she drove two elbow strikes hard into his ribs, feeling them give way under the power and heard her opponent grunt in pain. From there she used her shorter height to her advantage, she placed the arm with the gun over her shoulder and brought it straight down, hyper extending the elbow before it too finally gave way under the assault and broke.

Kyra was brought back to realty at the sound of gun fire in Hunt's office, knowing it could be and probably was Oliver in trouble and she had no more time to waste, she ended her opponent with an elbow strike to the head.

She snatched up her bow and ran to the office. She had an arrow drawn and ready to fire as she entered and scanned the room for dangers. Nothing moved, she found the head thug laying on his back one of Oliver's throwing arrows in his chest, when she was sure he was dead, she scanned the room for Oliver and quickly found his feet sticking out from behind the desk.

She returned the arrow to her quiver and rushed over to him. She checked him over but couldn't find any opens wounds, so she reached over and began to gently tap him on the cheek, "Come on… wake up… we don't have time for this."

She knew she couldn't call out his name there was no way to know if someone was listening. She could hear the police forces moving into the lobby and gave him one finally slap to the face.

Oliver jolted up drawing a deep breath, which allow Kyra to take a relieved breath of her own. He rolled over onto his front and pulled a bullet from his armor.

Having no time to dwell on the newest near death experience for both of them, as they could now see the flash lights moving toward the office, Oliver grabbed his bow and they both moved into a crouch behind the desk.

"Lay down your weapons… or we will open fire. I repeat lay down you weapons." The SWAT member called out.

They drew arrows together, at Oliver's signal they fired knocking out the flashlights and made a run for it as more police poured in and started shooting at them. Detective Lance and his partner among them.

Oliver and Kyra didn't even pause as the bullets whizzed by and shattered the glass around them. Six windows over from Hunt's desk, they moved as one, Oliver jumped up and turned with his back hitting the window as Kyra jumped a split second behind into his arms, she wrapped her arms around his middle knowing what was coming next.

One final bullet helped to shatter the glass and then they were falling, Oliver grunted as he caught the cable and Kyra's weight caused more strain on his shoulders. Gravity worked to their advantage getting them to the roof top of the venue in less than thirty seconds.

As soon as their feet touched the ground they were off and running toward the roof access door, where they had stashed their gear bags and party clothes. They stripped off their weapons and gear with Kyra checking the time, "three minutes."

* * *

The last thing was the grease paint that they scrubbed off as they flew down the stairs, they checked to see that there was no evidence of their recent activities before they parted ways. They entered the party separately as to not draw attention, Kyra made her way to one of the many bars while Oliver weaved his way in between people on the dance floor. Both waited until the police arrived before they gradually made their way toward Tommy.

Kyra arrived just in time to hear Oliver tell Lance that it was a private party.

"Yeah, well there was an incident at Adam Hunt's building tonight. Do you know anything about that?"

"Who's Adam Hunt?" Oliver asked.

"He's a millionaire bottom feeder, and I am kinda surprised you aren't friends."

"We've kinda been out of town for a while, Detective." Kyra said stepping out from behind Oliver and making her presence known.

Her reply seemed to make Lance pause for a moment, "Yeah, well he just got attacked by a guy with a hood, the guy that saved your ass the other day."

"The hood guy?"

"Yeah…"

"You need to find him," Oliver interrupted. "I gonna offer a reward."

With that Oliver turned back toward the crowd, "Hey everybody! Two million dollars to anybody you can find a nutbar in a green hood."

The crowd immediately cheered as Oliver turned back to the detectives. Only to have Lance step into his personal space, "Did you even try to save her? Did you even try to save my daughter?"

Lance's partner grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back trying to get his partner to see reason as he told him they needed to leave.

Kyra could see Oliver's good mood end the moment Lance brought up Sara, it was subtle his shoulders lowered slightly and his eyes dropped to the floor for a brief moment. Then she watched as he steeled himself locking away all the pain, heartache, and regret and once more put on the mask of playboy billionaire.

Oliver moved past Tommy toward one on the dance platforms, once he was standing above the crowd he called out, "It's way too quiet in here… this is a party…. Yeah!"

With that the DJ turned the music up and the crowd raised their glasses as they cheered, and moved on as if nothing had happened.

Tommy and Kyra moved to meet Oliver as he came down from the platform.

"Some coincidence you asking to have your party here and Hunt getting robbed right next door. And by the same guy who rescued us at the warehouse." Tommy causally stated, eyeing them both as if they would clue him in to a big secret.

Before Kyra could stop him Oliver responded, "If I were you Tommy, I would just be happy you're alive."

Kyra tugged Oliver back out of Tommy's personal space not wanting the situation to spin out of control. With the mood he was in and the amount of alcohol Tommy had consumed she didn't like her odds of avoiding a fist fight if she didn't remove one of them from the situation.

Tommy looked at Oliver as if he didn't even recognize him, "What happened to you on that island?"

"A lot," Kyra answered as she began steering Oliver through the crowd hoping to defuse the tension.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

**Here's the split between the two versions! Happy Reading!**

* * *

They made their way to the bar and Kyra order, "Vodka, two glasses, leave the bottle."

As soon as the bartender left she pushed the half full glass towards Oliver,  
"павшим , но не забыт." (Fallen, but not forgotten)

With the toast, they drained the glasses and Kyra poured them another round. This time they sipped the strong drink slower savoring the burn it cause, reminding them they were both alive and well.

"Two hours and then we can get out of here … solid alibi and all that."

Kyra didn't have to look at Oliver to know he was rolling his eyes and shaking his head at her.

* * *

Two and half hours later having put in the required face time as the shiny new objects of gossip mill for the young, rich, and stupid of Starling City, Kyra and Oliver made their way through the crowd of highly intoxicated party goers and out the side entrance to the kitchens. Once there, they grabbed their gear bags and made their way to the parking garage and the car they had stashed there earlier in the day.

The drive back to the foundry was silent, with Oliver still stuck in broody mode. Sara's fate weighed heavily on both their shoulders but Oliver would let the guilt and pain to fester until there was no happiness let inside him and Kyra only knew of two ways to snap him out of it.

So she did the only thing she could think of once they had put away their gear, changed into comfortable clothes, and started the program that would infiltrate and redistribute Hunt's wealth to its rightful owners, she picked up two pairs of escrima sticks and tossed a pair at Oliver, which he caught without looking.

"I am not in the mood." He told her without looking away for the computer screen.

"I didn't ask if you were, but I know you and you are in your head going over and over what you could have done differently to save her and we both know there was nothing either of us could have done."

"I could have saved her if I had just…"

"What … not been a lying cheating boyfriend…jackass playboy billionaire mamma's boy?" she added in afterthought.

Oliver's head actually snapped up as he finally registered what she had just called him.

"Cause you know if we are really going to honest about things, its your mom's fault right… I mean she coddled you, gave you whatever you wanted, and payed off everyone off to keep you out of trouble. You were living the high life… rich and famous… parties, booze, drugs, girls… the sky was the limit and you had no responsibilities… no consequences. But if we use that logic…then technically we could say its Laurel's fault because she knew who and what you were and tried to get you to commit anyway. Trying to make the playboy into a respectable committed boyfriend who shared her cookie cutter dream of the future… roommates, engagement, law school, wedding, white picket fence, 2.5 kids, and dog named Fido… so then we could blame her and Sara's parents for raising a naive, needy, selfish girl and she sister, the slut, both with unrealistic views of the world and their futures in it."

Kyra watched as everything she said made Oliver madder and slowly lose what little control he had left on his emotions. But that's what she wanted, for him to get angry, to want to fight. To release all the pain, guilt, and anguish that he had accumulated in the last five years that was gnawing at him from the inside, that was slapping them both in the face every time they realized they were home in Starling City and Sara and so many others were not. They needed to refocus, see beyond all the darkness and continue their mission. She would reflect later that maybe she went a little too far by calling Sara a slut, but it got the reaction she was hoping for as Oliver came at her holding nothing back.

He might have been bigger than her but she was faster and stronger than she looked and they were evenly matched. She landed a solid hit to his ribs but could still see that linger pain hidden behind in his eyes, "Come on Ollie is that the best you got?"

She knew she would pay for the taunt and it came three moves later when he swept her feet out from under her and she landed hard on her back. He moved to pin her but she was faster, wrapping her leg around his neck and using her momentum to roll them over. She ended up straddling his hips and pinning his arms above his head. She knew he could fight her off and escape with little trouble but she also knew he wouldn't. She stared at him for a moment finally seeing beyond the mask and armor of pain that he built to protect himself, she finally saw her Ollie.

"Hi." She said softly, before leaning down and kissing him.

When they broke apart to breathe, she stood up, pulling him to his feet, and leading him over to the nest of blankets and pillows she had managed to stash in a corner.

They spent the rest of the night reconnecting with each other on an intimate and primal level. As dawn broke it found the returned castways nestled together amongst their soft bed. Oliver running his fingertips up and down Kyra's spine as she lay tucked into his side.

"Remind me again why we have to hide that we are together?" Kyra asked softly, kissing Oliver's chest right above his heart.

Oliver took a deep breath and slowly let it out, "You know why."

To emphasize his point he gently grabbed the leather cord that hung around her neck, on it was a gold ring with a diamond at its center. They both stared at it for a moment before Oliver released it and it fell back to its resting place above Kyra's heart.

"Right… closure…" she mumbled, "Closure sucks."

"Have you spoken to him yet?"

Kyra took a deep breath and laughed, "No… been a bit busy couple of days beating up bad guys and that isn't a conversation you can have in five minutes over the phone."

If Laurel's picture had been Oliver's anchor on the island then Kyra's engagement ring was hers. But when they knew they were coming back to Starling City, they had decided to move forward, that they needed closure with the two people they had left behind before they could publicly be together. They couldn't go back in time and fix their mistakes or take away the hurt, anger, betrayal, and abandonment those people felt but they could acknowledge all of it and try to move past it.

The computer beeped telling them that the transfers were in progress. Oliver gently kissed her forehead and got up, moving off no doubt to shower and change into clothes more presentable for the day.

Kyra thought about joining him… saving water and all that… but the reminder of the painful and emotional conversation she was going to have to have with her former fiancé kind of killed her mood.

Five minutes later he came out from behind the curtained area, freshly showered, and ready for the day.

"Showers free." He called to her as he made his way over to the computer to monitor the transfers.

By the time she was done the transfers were complete, it was a good feeling knowing they were helping people and that one scumbag was getting his just desserts but they both knew their work had only just begun. The book that Robert Queen had left them still had many names in it.

Kyra picked up a pen from the table and uncapped it, presenting it to Oliver, allowing him the pleasure and honor of crossing off the first name on the list. Once the line was drawn both their gazes were drawn to the picture of Robert Queen on the table. And their minds went back to the last day they had spent with him before he met his fate.

* * *

 _They had been floating adrift for days with very little left in rations. Kyra and Oliver sat huddled together, with Kyra wedged between Oliver and Robert in an effort to keep them all warm. Both lethargic from lack of water and exposure to the elements. The crew member, who had survived the sinking with them, was dozing off, sitting of the side of the raft, having appointed himself guardian of the supplies, a yellow box sitting at his feet, and a knife resting on top if any of them got any ideas of taking more than their fair share._

 _Robert was the most alert out of all of them as he leaned over and whispered to Oliver and Kyra, "There is not enough for all of us."_

 _Oliver was the one to answer him barely even having the strength to open his eyes, "Save your strength, Dad."_

 _Oliver dozed off again, and in those few moments Robert Queen knew what he had to do to help them survive. He gently shook Kyra wake and once he was sure that both of them could to hear him, he spoke to both of them, "You can survive this… both of you… make it home… make it better…. right my wrongs…. But you've got to live through this first."_

 _Both Oliver and Kyra fought to keep conscious to listen but the fatigue was too much and they drifted off… Robert grabbed both their vests and shook them, bring them back to semi-consciousness, "Ollie do you hear me son… you live through this… protect each other… do you hear me…"_

" _Just rest Dad." Oliver didn't seem to really hear what his father was saying to him or the desperation and urgency his father was trying to impart, but Kyra did as she struggled to focus and understand what Robert was trying to tell them._

 _Robert leaned over Kyra and kissed Oliver on the forehead before gently pushing him off to the side away from them, then he turned his gaze on her. The beautiful, smart, strong, independent woman he had come to see as his own daughter. A daughter, in all but blood, who he had condemned to this fate, and who he was now entrusting with the heavy burden of his tainted legacy. But he knew she would have the strength to shoulder this burden and would help Oliver accept the truth. Together they would be able to right the many wrongs he and so many others had committed against the city they claimed to care for._

" _Robert." Kyra whispered._

" _Shhh…Sweetheart know that I love you… and I am so proud of you. You are family….you are my daughter in every way that counts. Help Oliver… be patient with him and help him understand. Survive together…. Make it home…" with those simple words he brought the daughter of his heart to tears as she accepted the burden he was entrusting to her and accepted the fate he had chosen for himself so that they might survive._

 _He kissed her softly on the forehead, lingering a moment longer than he had with Oliver, gathering his resolve he helped her shift closer to Oliver. Once she was safely out of the way he drew the gun he had stashed in his vest and aimed for the crew member, who didn't even have enough time to register what was happening before he pulled the trigger. The man fell overbroad into the ocean and once it was done he turned his gaze back upon his children, his hope, his true legacy._

 _They sat huddled together both staring at him in disbelief._

" _Dad/Robert?!" They both cried out in shock and fear._

" _I love you both… survive together."_

 _With that he made peace with himself that his sacrifice would allow his children to live and survive and he raised the gun and pulled the trigger._

* * *

The son and adopted daughter of Robert Queen came out of their memories with their haunting screams of denial of the man they called father's fate still echoing in their ears, the rain cascading down from the upper floors of the warehouse a strange comfort to them. They wouldn't leave their lair that day, instead taking a few precious moments to truly be themselves, the strange mixture of broken, haunted children who were forced to become something darker, deadlier, to survive so that they might take up their father's legacy and save the city that was slowly dying.

It wasn't until nightfall that they gathered their gear to go patrol, each taking a different section of the city. Kyra checked in on her baby drug dealer, happy to find him at home with his family and not out of the streets selling poison. After finishing her sweep she moved on to track down Oliver, knowing exactly where she would find him. Perched on a fire escape in an alley near Laurel's place of work. She emerged silently from the shadows at Oliver's shoulder managing to catch a few words of the conversation happening below them between Tommy and Laurel.

"….quite a few lapses… your place, my place…my place again."

"Come Merlyn… we both know you're not a one girl type of guy."

"Depends on the girl."

From their vantage point they could see Laurel's reaction as if she was surprised by Tommy's confession. She took a few steps back and turned, "I have to get back to work."

"Dinah Laurel Lance always trying to save the world." Tommy called after her, causing her to turn back with a smile.

"Hey, if I don't try to save it, who will?"

Tommy and Laurel parted ways after that completely unaware of their audience. Oliver and Kyra waited a few moments before departing making sure both of their unsuspecting charges made it off safely.

Kyra hoped Oliver would take some peace from the fact that his friends had found happiness in each other, just as they had found solace in each other. But she knew it would rip open old wounds that had never fully healed for him and much like her it was yet another glaring reminder that the world had moved on without them. They slipped off into the night returning back to their lair, their safe haven. Both so physically and emotionally exhausted from the past week that they only managed to stow their gear before collapsing together into the nest of blankets.

* * *

 _They say the island changed us… but they truly do not know how much. There are many more names of the list our father left us, of those people to rule our city with intimidation and fear. Every last one of them will wish we had died on that island._

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9

_The day we went missing, was the day that we died. Five years in hell forged us into weapons, which we use to honor the vow we made to the man we called father. A man who sacrificed his life for ours, in his final moments he told us the truth that the Queen wealth had been built on the suffering of others. They failed our city, and that it was up to us to save it and right his wrongs. But to do that without endangering the people closest to us… we have to be someone else… we have to be something else._

* * *

Why were bottom-feeding criminals always so predictable? Kyra kept asking herself this as she dodged yet another haymaker and punched the goon in the face. She worked swiftly, moving to cover Oliver's back as he took out another suited minion. She had to give them credit though, they kept getting up for more punishment.

"Oh… screw this." Kyra muttered as she drew an arrow and targeted the idiot trying to sneak up behind her, she was oddly satisfied when the man went with a girly scream of pain as her arrow found a home in his knee and she finished him off with a kick to the face. She turned quickly drawing again, and targeting that smart goon who had actually been bright enough to draw his gun, not that it helped him. She released the arrow shooting the guy through the hand forcing him to drop the gun. She didn't even turn around as she targeted the man running toward Oliver and firing an arrow, sending him crashing down with an arrow in the shoulder.

Oliver moved forward toward their target, throwing him off the upper part of the roof and onto the air conditioning system on the lower level. She drew again but only to intimidate and make sure none of the minions get the bright idea of playing hero, as Oliver did what he did best.

It had taken Kyra less than a two days to learn their next target, Marcus Redman's, schedule and habits. And less than a week after taking down Adam Hunt they were on a roof top, supposedly outnumbered, but winning against the best security thugs money could buy. It wasn't even that much of a challenge for them, Kyra was hardly breaking a sweat. If she had to rate it on a scale of one to ten, one being in a fight with a kitten and ten being fighting a drug enhanced highly trained super-solider, well she would give them a solid three… maybe a four if she was feeling generous. She watched over the unconscious and moaning goons and debated what she should wear tomorrow as she waited for Oliver to finish.

Once he signaled her, she stowed her arrow in back in her quiver, "Well, its been fun boys."

With that the she followed Oliver off the roof and into the night.

* * *

 _The Lair_

The alarm Kyra had set before they left echoed against the concrete walls as she shut off the hot water. She stepped out from behind the shower curtain and dried off, slipping into a pair of yoga pants and one of Oliver's old sweatshirts. She would never take for granted the fact she could have a hot shower and clean comfortable clothes to change into whenever she wanted, it was a luxury after five years.

"What the hell!" Oliver yelled over the alarm as he shut it off.

"Its an alarm."

"I got that smartass, what's it for."

"To remind you of something." Kyra answered as she gathered her things in her bag.

"To remind me of what?"

"Where we're supposed to be in four hours."

She waited patiently for Oliver to register what she had said and at the blank look on his face she knew she would have to remind him.

"Hint… big building… lots of uptight people and criminals go there…and there you go." She watched as it dawned on Oliver what she was talking about.

"Court."

"Ding, ding, ding… give the man a prize… honestly Oliver if your head wasn't attached sometimes I think you wouldn't know which end of the arrow goes into the bad guys."

"That's what I've got you for," Oliver called after her as she climbed the stairs, "And its the pointy end, right?"

* * *

They returned to the Queen Mansion with no one the wiser of their night time activities. They moved silently through the dark hallways towards Oliver's room hoping to catch a few precious minutes of sleep between the adrenaline and nightmares.

The sun rose much too early for Kyra's liking and she felt the bed move as Oliver got up and made his way to the bathroom. She was perfectly content to lay there until the warm covers were ripped off the bed and she could only watch as Oliver took them hostage as the bathroom door closed behind him. She rose and got ready for the day all the while cursing Oliver and planning of some very unpleasant things to do to him. She made her way to her own bathroom and showered again this time cold, hoping it would wake her up. She twisted her hair into a simple bun at the top of her head and went to raid the closet that somehow had become stuffed to the gills with clothes in her size. She had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't only Thea who had helped with that but Mrs. Queen, but she suspected for a complete different reason than wanting to bond.

She chose a navy pant suit with a cream colored shirt and a pair of bright red heels. She never could resist a gorgeous pair of heels in her size.

She made her way to the formal living room, where the family seemed to have gathered, the only person missing was Oliver.

"Good morning." Walter greeted her as she entered.

"Morning."

She got an approving smile from Thea, she assumed for her outfit, and a simple nod of acknowledgement from Moira. She chose to take what she could get and turned to her attention to the news cast playing of the TV.

"In the past fifteen years Mr. Redman has withdrawn over thirty million dollars from the plans account. Mr. Redman claimed refunding the pension plan has always been his intent. But sources says Redman was coerced by the vigilante…"

"This guy gets more air time than the Kardashians …. Right?"

All the people in the room, Kyra included, turned and just seemed to stare at Oliver for a moment.

"Five years on an island and you still know who they are?" Thea summed up their thoughts perfectly.

"I've been catching up…its nice to see how much our culture has improved while I was away."

Kyra rolled her eyes of all the things to catch up on, world events, politics, technology…hell even the last three Harry Potter movies… but no he went with the most culturally irrelevant self-centered family in current media. Although now that she thought back on it the fact she knew who he was talking about didn't make her feel any better.

"This city used to be different, people used to feel safe."

"Oh… what's the matter Mom…fraid we're going to be next?" Thea asked her mother.

Moira ignored her question and Walter ever the peace keeper in the family stepped in to defuse the tension.

"Do you have any questions about today Oliver? Kyra? It's a simple proof of life declaration…just read of brief prepared statement to the judge and then your death in absentia will be voided."

"It's fine Walter, I've been in a court room before."

"Four times by my estimate, there's the DUI, the assault on that paparazzi douchebag, stealing that taxi… which was just awesome by the way…and who could forget peeing on the cop." Tommy announced his arrival in spectacular fashion naming off a short list of what was probably the highlights of Oliver's pre-island party boy ways.

"I wish everyone would." Moira said as she was helped with her coat by Walter.

"I'd hang but we're headed to court." Oliver told Tommy.

"I know….that's why I'm here. My best friend is getting legally resurrected … I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Kyra would have thought it sweet of Tommy to come and show his supported except for the mischievous gleam in his eye. Oliver seemed to have caught it too as he responded, "Right… and what about you?"

Everyone seemed to be waiting for Thea's response but Kyra figured out her answer before she even said anything if her outfit was anything to go by.

"I think the first four times of you in court was enough for me." Thea replied as she made her way out of the room.

"Fair enough."

"Mrs. Queen, the car is ready." Diggle announced as he entered the room.

Moira and Walter moved to follow, with the former ignoring Tommy's poor attempt to act gentlemanly. Tommy quickly followed them, leaving Oliver and Kyra alone in the room.

"Ready." Kyra asked as she moved to straighten his tie.

"Always." He replied as he drew her into a hug and tilting her chin so he could give her a kiss. The next few hours were not going to be kind or easy for either of them. They moved together making their way to the front door and the car that would take them to where they would have to relive one of the worst days of their lives.

* * *

They could see the press swarming the sidewalk before they even fully pulled up to the curb in front of the courthouse. Diggle opened the door and Oliver got out first, placing his arm around Kyra's waist as soon as her feet touched the ground, partially to keep her stable as the press pushed against them and partially so they wouldn't be separated in the mad dash up the steps of the courthouse.

"Mr. Queen…. Ms. McCoy…."

The press yelled their names, shoving microphones and cameras in their faces. Surrounding them on all sides. Diggle was doing his best to make a path forward and Oliver having sensed how rigid and tense she had become used his body to shield her from most of it while he dragged her through the swarm. Walter, Moira, and Tommy did their best to follow and stick close but the press were relentless in their pursuit of getting that front page headline.

"How is returning to civilization after five years on an island….. Can you tell us…. Five years on an island…."

By the time their little group reached the top of the steps and the safety of the courthouse, both Kyra and Oliver were rigid with tension. Both having flash backs to the storm and the Queen's Gambit. They moved off together and no one objected, after five minutes they came back seemingly more relaxed but it was obvious to everyone that something wasn't right.

The courtroom was full with standing room only, they were directed to stand in the in front of the judge. Oliver giving his testimony first.

Kyra kept her hand in his as he started, "There was a storm…. The boat went down… Kyra and I were the only survivors."

She squeezed is hand in comfort and support of the lie they were telling.

"…my father didn't make it….I almost died… we almost died…I thought that we had cause we spent ….so many days on that life raft before we saw the island….when we reached it I knew … I knew that I was going to have to live for both of us. And in those five years it was that one thought that kept me going."

Oliver squeezed her hand back in thanks and support. The court room was dead silent after Oliver's declaration. The Queen family lawyer stood and addressed the judge, "Your Honor, we move to vitiate the death-in-absentia filed after Oliver's disappearance at sea abroad the Queen's Gambit five years ago. Unfortunately, we will not be requesting that the declaration of death filed for the petitioner's father, Robert Queen, be rescinded. The Queen family is entitled to only one miracle I'm afraid."

"By the testimony given here today by Oliver Queen, I here-by rescinded the death-in-absentia filed on his behalf, by the Queen family. Mr. Queen, you are here-by legally resurrected. And as seeing as I have had the pleasure of having you in my court room now five times, please for all our sakes don't waste it."

Oliver only nodded his head in acknowledgement of the Judge and all eyes shifted to Kyra.

Just as they had discussed Kyra relayed her experience of that night with more detail, "There was a storm, the Captain had turned us back hoping to find calmer waters to ride it out. The ship was being tossed about like a toy. The power went out and I only just managed to get to the rally point when Robert…. I mean Mr. Queen… shoved a life vest at me and told me to put it on. I don't really know what happened next… the water came rushing in so fast…. I barely managed to keep my head above water…. How Oliver saw me and pull me into the raft I will never know…. I must have hit my head at some point… the rest is fuzzy… I remember drifting for days… running out of food and water….losing hope…. Then we saw the island….our savior and our hell. We lived…. No we survived on that island for five years, and now we are home."

The Queen lawyer who Moira and Walter had been kind enough to hire to represent Kyra moved to ask that her death-in-absentia be rescinded as well. Oliver ad Kyra remain silent through the rest of the proceedings, the memories and emotions usually so carefully locked away, running close to the surface.

Once they were released Oliver, Kyra, and Tommy followed Moira and Walter heading back toward the entrance of the courthouse where their cars waited.

"And now on to the offices." Those were the first words Moira spoke to either of them. "… Everyone is waiting to meet you."

"Ah… Mom… that was um…a little bit heavier than either of us were expecting it to be… could we do that tomorrow? Please."

Kyra tried to ignore the looks of pity she and Oliver were getting from Tommy, Walter, and Moira. She didn't want to seem weak but not even she after all she had been through in the last five years was immune to the emotions she and Oliver had just relived for the first time in what seemed like an eternity.

"Of course."

"Thank you." Kyra answered for both of them.

Moira and Walter moved off ahead, Kyra trailed behind Oliver and Tommy.

"Last week you couldn't wait to get to the company?"

"Tommy, I just spend five years away from civilization I wasn't exactly thinking straight."

They turned the corner and were brought up short, with Kyra almost running into Oliver, by Laurel Lance.

"Hi…" Oliver drawled out not knowing what to say.

Tommy mumbled a hello at his side.

"What are you doing here?"

Oliver seemed intent on staring at Laurel until Kyra kicked him in the back of his leg.

"Oh… um…. They were bringing me and Kyra back from the dead…. Legally speaking."

Laurel and her two companions glanced at Kyra as she waved from behind Oliver and Tommy's back.

"What are you doing here?"

Kyra had to keep herself from rolling her eyes, if she were a jealous woman she would be a little concerned that even after five years Laurel Lance still seemed to make Oliver lose any sense of intelligence by her mere presence alone. But she knew that his heart belonged to her now, but there would always be a small part that belong to Laurel Lance, and she had come to learn to live with it as a small piece of her heart was shared with another as well.

"My job."

"Right."

Kyra did roll her eyes as this answer.

One of Laurel's companions, a co-worker if Kyra wasn't mistaken, butted in to save them from the single syllable answers, "More like the DA's actually."

It didn't seem to help the tension at all only make the young blonde woman at Laurel's side shift in discomfort. Kyra pushed her way through the two Neanderthals and stuck out her hand in greeting.

"Hi, Kyra McCoy. The two mute Neanderthals behind me are Tommy Merlin and Oliver Queen."

Kyra could tell the young woman didn't know how to react other that being polite, "Ah… Emily Nocenti."

Oliver followed Kyra's lead and reached out to shake her hand.

"Oliver just got back from five years on an island …. Before that he was cheating on me with my sister….he was with her when she died….and last week he told me to stay away from him …. It was really good advice. Excuse me."

Laurel brushed past Oliver as she made her way to the courtrooms, leaving her co-worker and Ms Nocenti to deal with the awkward silence that followed in her wake.

"It was um… nice to meet you." Emily offered quietly as she followed Laurel up the stairs.

Tommy being the ever sensitive friend clapped Oliver on the back and told him to shake off. And If he wasn't Oliver's best friend Kyra would have been tempted to trip him down the three long flights of stairs in front of the courthouse if only to draw the press's attention away from them and onto the Merlin scion being an idiot.

They were saved from being mobbed by the press's attention being focused elsewhere. They couldn't see the man's face but they could hear him.

"…. I don't know what I have done to earn this witch hunt from Ms. Lance and her bosses at the CNRI but I can tell you this I am an honest businessman and I will fight this slander to my last dime and breath. That is all I have to say. Thank You."

Once the so called 'honest businessman' made his way up the stairs the press quickly turned their greedy eyes toward their new target.

The three of them made their way quickly down the steps, with Oliver practically carrying Kyra by the arm around her waist. The press converged leaving very little space move let alone breathe, as they yelled out at the castaways. Diggle met them at the bottom pushing the reporters back, directing Oliver and Kyra to the waiting car. He opened the door for them and Kyra got in first with Oliver following right after. The door was shut but they could still hear the dull roar of questions being yelled at them.

Kyra took one look at Oliver and nimbly climbed into the front seat. She waited until Diggle and Tommy's focus was on the reporters and threw the car in drive taking off with no concern on whether or not she hit any of the blood sucking leeches or if Tommy or Diggle had a ride out of there.

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 **Hi Everyone... sorry for the delay... my life went from zero to sixty in the span of two weeks and doesn't look to be slowing down any time soon. I will still be working on Lovers and Fighters and my other stories ... I just can't guarantee when I am going to be able to update regularly again. Thanks for reading, the reviews, favorites and follows and sticking with me.**

 **Reviews:**

AquaRoseWaters: Thanks... I love both versions as well

dhnysports88: Glad you like the story

Cooky Crumbla: Happy you enjoyed it


	10. Chapter 10

Hi... sorry for the long delay. My life over the past year has been a little busy and I haven't been able to dedicate the time I would have liked to writing, but hopefully I will be able to update more regularly going forward. Thanks to everyone who stuck with this story and welcome to the new arrivals. Make sure to check out the other version of this story The Shadows Follow You Home: Saints and Sinners. Please read and review!

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Kyra drove them around the city, taking random turns with no real destination in mind, but making sure no one was following them. Finally, after passing the same coffee shop three times, she drove toward the Glades. They hid the car in an abandoned auto garage about six blocks for the steel mill.

Once, they hit the sidewalk they went their separate ways. Each going in the opposite direction but having the same destination in mind. It took her another twenty minutes to reach the old steel mill, but that included a stop for coffee.

By the time, she had made her way down to the lower levels, Oliver was already hard at work, beating the memories and emotions back into the little box he kept them in, to be buried and forgotten. She let him be, knowing talking wouldn't make it better for either of them. For Oliver, she blamed the Queen family stubbornness of not dealing with their emotions until it came to bite them in the ass. For her well, five years away from home struggling to survive and the constant looming threat of death taught her quickly, that emotions took a back seat to just about everything that was trying to kill you. So, instead she sat herself down and focused on their new target, Martin Sommers.

She hacked the security feed for the docks and started a search algorithm to alert them to any movement of Sommers or his known associates. Once she was done, she moved to an open spot on the mat that Oliver hadn't gotten sweat on, and began the only thing that help to calm her mind other than physical training to the point of exhaustion, one of them had to be at their best tonight. Yoga was something she had done as a hobby with her mother, at first it was the weird fad that all the soccer moms were trying, but once her mother had convinced her to do at the age of ten, she had been hooked.

She started off easy, simple stretches and focusing her breathing. Then she fell into the familiar movements with ease and let her mind drift, focusing on putting the awful memories and the dark emotions back into the deep pit that had clawed their way out of. Again, probably not the healthiest way to manage them, but five years of hell did not leave her with many other options.

By the time, she was done, the haunting memories were back in their cage and she could focus on the present. She threw a water bottle at Oliver as she checked the security feeds of the ship yards that Sommers was known to frequent.

"Got him. Blackmore ship yard, warehouse five."

She hadn't even finished her sentence and Oliver was already moving to get suited up.

"Is this going to be our thing?" she asked as she finished strapping her quiver across her shoulder.

Oliver didn't even pause as in stocking his own quiver with arrows, "What thing?"

"Oh, I don't know Oliver, this thing that every time your ex-girlfriend decides to fight for the little guy and take on the scum of the city who have, guns, thugs, and a whole lot to lose, we stick our noses in. We had a plan Oliver, one that didn't include Laurel Lance deciding who we were going to scratch of the list first."

She wasn't trying to be a bitch and it wasn't jealousy or feeling threatened by Laurel that made her ask. They had been through too much for a simple thing as Laurel to come between them. To anyone else but Oliver, she probably sounded like a grade-A bitch but she knew Oliver would understand where she was coming from.

This time he did pause and turned to face her, "I know this wasn't what we had planned, but now that we are back … I can't just leave her to fight these battles on her own, not when she has no idea who she is truly going up against. Its….its not about winning her back or earning her forgiveness…. Its about protecting her and not letting her dad lose another daughter…."

"For Sara." She had interrupted him; having gotten the answer she had hoped for. It wasn't for his redemption, although that was a nice side perk, but to honor Sara by protecting the two people she loved most.

Oliver nodded his head knowing she understood, "For Sara."

With their heart to heart out of the way, they finished gearing up in silence and made their way to the tarps where they had stashed their motorcycles. Having secured the fence behind them, helmets on, and nod to each other, they headed in opposite directions toward the Starling City Bay and the scum bag who desired a fate much worse than the one they had planned for him.

* * *

Took her less than ten minutes to reach the spot they had chosen to hid their bikes, two minutes later her partner in crime showed up. Climbing the security fence was child's play and though they stuck to the shadows to avoid detection, they didn't have to worry about the security cameras as they had been disabled by some clever hacking.

Once in the ship yard it was easy to find the warehouse and sneak in undetected. She took the high ground, scaling the metal racking silently, leaving Oliver to sneak around the corners.

"…the longer this goes on, the more likely the media's going to crucify me… You shut this trial down…"

"Ohhh… some ones pissed." She whispered over the coms, before she released the first of three arrows. One hit the power boxes, not enough to cut the power but to make the lights flicker allowing them to move freely. The second was for theatrical effect making the lights in the warehouse swing. The third was for her own personal satisfaction shooting Sommers' scumbag lawyer in the ass. Not the nicest thing to do when the guy couldn't fight back because of the tranquilizers Oliver had shot him with, but it made her feel better. With Sommers' other two goons down for the count minus the arrows in the butt, Sommers began to spin in circles, confused as to what just happened.

They let him freak out for a few moments before Oliver knocked him out from behind. She landed without making a sound and made her way over to help Oliver with the next part of their plan. They both grunted a little hauling Sommers off the floor, "Next time we wait to knock the bad guy out until after so they can walk themselves. Man…this guy needs to go on a diet!"

Between the two of them it didn't take that long to string Sommers up, they even had time to stop strip his goon squad of their guns and phones, and left them hog tied. In fact, Kyra was getting impatient, as she was running on two hours of sleep in the last 48 and she had missed dinner. She could go longer and with a lot less sleep but it was not fun and she was starving so the douchebag was not winning himself any mercy keeping her here longer.

"How hard did you hit him?"

Oliver just rolled his eyes and shrugged, content to wait it out.

She pulled the leather strap, concealing the small computer tablet hidden in her wrist brace, loose to check the time and to make sure the security feeds were still down. She groaned quietly, it was 9pm they had been up since 7am the day before with a brief catnap that morning before court.

"Oh screw this noise." She said as she made her way over to the suspended scum bag. She tapped his cheek a few times to make him come around faster and when he let out a small groan, she pushed him making him swing back and forth. A childish thing to do but it made her happy and would probably make him sick, which it was if the green tint in his face was any indication.

She was back standing by Oliver by the time Sommers was coherent enough to yell at them. Oliver wasted no time drawing an arrow, "Martin Sommers, you have failed this city."

He released the arrow, which passed harmlessly through Sommers suit jacket, but close enough for him to feel the feathers pass between his arm pit and ribs.

"You're going to testify at that trial. You're going to confess to having Victor Nocenti killed. There won't be a second warning!"

With that she drew an arrow and let it fly, grazing Sommers right cheek, leaving a thin line of blood in its wake. With Sommers squealing like a stuck pig, they quickly disappeared into the shadows, leaving him there for his thugs to find when they woke up.

* * *

A quick pit stop to drop their gear off and pick up the car they had highjacked that morning, Oliver drove them back to the Queen Manor. When they pulled up it was 10pm and the lights were still on, meaning they couldn't just slip in unnoticed.

The house as quite when they entered and they followed the voice of Moira Queen toward the sitting room.

"…..now I am not a professional bodyguard… but it seems to me the first requirement would be managing to stay next to the man you were hired to protect."

They both winced and shared a look, as it was mostly their fault Dig was getting a dressing down from Moira.

"Well frankly ma'am, I've never had a client who didn't want my protection."

"I hired you…that makes me the client. Now, where do you think my son is going on these chaperon-less excursions?"

Kyra elbowed Oliver in the ribs, forcing him to step around the corner, to save their favorite bodyguard from the wrath of Moira Queen.

"Ma'am, I truly do not know."

"And he truly doesn't."

Kyra could feel the full force to the twin disapproving stares from where she was waiting/hiding but she wasn't stupid enough to put herself in the cross hairs of a pissed off Moira Queen, even if it was to save Oliver from her wrath.

"Then perhaps you would like to share with me where it is you run off to?"

Oliver let out a small laugh and Kyra knew she was in trouble, that meant he was thinking on his feet and about to do something stupid. She grimaced and prepared herself, in hind sight, it may not have been her best idea elbowing him and feeding him to his mother without a cover story already in place as he sucked at coming up with and sticking to them.

"Kyra and I have been on an island for five years and we just needed to slip off and have some alone time together away from everyone…."

The silence from the room was enough to tell Kyra, he had gotten his point across.

"I…see," was Moira's brilliant response.

Kyra made a face, so much for not telling anyone they were together…. Oliver never was subtle but she had to give him points, it was effective distracting Moira. So much for not putting herself in the cross hairs of the angry mama bear.

Kyra made her way into the room, slipping on what she hoped was an innocent and somewhat distraught, "I'm afraid its my fault…. Coming back everything has been a bit overwhelming and I really didn't want to bother anyone so I convinced Oliver to…"

"No dear, I understand… I think we all understand this has been hard for you both coming home. Will you just promise to take Mr. Diggle with you the next time you feel the need to slip away. Its not safe…and you've already been abducted once…. There is a maniac hunting the wealthy… and I wouldn't want to have something to happen."

"That maniac saved our lives."

Kyra forced herself not to roll her eyes at Oliver's interruption.

"This isn't a game! I lost you once ….and I am not going through that again."

Oliver drew Moira's focus back to him and not a moment too soon because damn if she wasn't feeling like a naughty 5-year-old. Moira was a master of her craft, like all mothers were, and she wasn't even surprised when Oliver caved.

"Okay, Dig's my guy."

"Thank you."

No one moved as the matriarch of the Queen clan made her way out of the room.

"Sorry for giving you so much grief."

Kyra did roll her eyes this time, to anyone else Oliver sounded like he meant what he said to Dig, but to her trained Oliver Queen bullshit meter, he was hitting a solid seven.

Seems their friendly neighborhood bodyguard was a quick study of the Oliver Queen bullshit meter because she watched a look of pure disbelief appear on his face before he schooled into a more professional indifference.

"I served three tours in Afghanistan, Mr. Queen. You don't even come close to my definition of grief. I'll tell you what … you ditch me one more time … no one will have to fire me."

Neither she nor Oliver had a response, so they remained silent as Dig left the room passing Thea on his way out.

"Where are you going?" Oliver called out.

"Uhhh… somewhere loud and smoky… and don't bother trying to pickpocket my stash this time…. I'm going to get drunk instead."

"Thea….do you think this is what dad would want for you?"

She almost thought Oliver had got Thea to stop and think about her actions and then the heiress opened her mouth and Kyra knew they had a long road ahead of them.

"Dead people don't want anything…it's one of the benefits of being dead."

"I was dead and I wanted a lot…"

"Except your family…. you've been home a week and all you do is avoid mom, ignore Walter, judge me… and disappear with your island whore…."

If Kyra was honest the last comment might have stung a little bit, but she didn't blame Thea for being a little angry. She lost her big brother, her hero, her partner in crime five years ago, and now he was back trying to fill a role she had tried so hard to grow out of needing. Both Queen sibling, were trying to force the other into being their old selves, the fun big brother who always had time for his dorky little sister and the little dorky sister how had been some of the few happy memories in a very cold, harsh existence. The painful lesson both were going to realize soon was five years is a long time and everyone has scars from it.

"….don't wait up."

They watched as Thea walked off, dressed to the nines and looking for trouble. Kyra watched that first inklings of realty that his little sister had grown up without him start to dawn in Oliver's eyes and she knew she was in for another sleepless night. Not keeping Oliver company or hunting down bad guys, no she had a date with a short dress, sky high heels, and a pissed off eighteen year-old with way too much money and influence.

She moved in front of Oliver and gently placed her hands on his face, waiting for him to look at her.

"Go попытаться получить некоторый сон. (Go, try to get some sleep)."

When he moved to protest, she shhhhed him, "Она пропустила ее старшего брата, и она начинает понимать, вы не тот же Олли, который покинул пять лет назад. Она ранена и сердит, дайте ей остыть. Я прослежу, чтобы она не попала в особых проблем. (She missed her big brother and she's starting to realize you aren't the same Ollie who left five years ago. She's hurt and angry, let her cool off. I'll make sure she doesn't get into too much trouble.)"

She knew then just how much Thea's words had affected him when he gave her a small little kiss and told her he loved her in Russian before making his way up one of the stairs cases presumably to follow her request and try and get some sleep.

She quickly made her way to the garage, grabbing the keys to the plainest car the Queen's owned, a four door Lincoln with its windows blackout. She pulled out of the garage, just in time to see the tail lights of Thea's limo turning out of the estate gates.

Love, she reminded herself, love was the reason she was currently following the youngest Queen out for a night of partying instead of eating her body weight in mint chocolate chip ice cream and curling up and falling asleep next to her favorite broody Queen.

Love, she decided long ago, made people do stupid things.

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Please Review! It gives me motivation to update faster!


	11. Chapter 11

Here's the next chapter... FYI this chapter for Lovers and Fighters is the same as Saints and Sinners. Some times writing two versions at once, lets me write a chapter that works for both.

Please Review!

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Turns out shadowing a seventeen-year-old heiress hell bent on getting drunk was both easy and boring. It had been easy enough to follow the limo to downtown Starling City and she had watched as Thea got dropped off outside Club Sol, one of three popular clubs she knew looked the other way when the underage rich kids spent money and got hammered. She had thought she might have to sneak in the back to avoid the lines and the rather large meat-head bouncers at the door, but then her overly tired brain came up with a very simple solution. She was not dressed for going out to a club, with her navy pantsuit she had put on earlier that morning for court, but what she was dressed for was blending in as the bodyguard Thea Queen's mother would have hired for her protection after her brother's kidnapping.

She waited until Thea and her friends were just about to enter the club and slipped past the bouncers who were trying to keep the paparazzi at bay. At least the leeches were good for one thing. Inside, Kyra moved off to one side, scanning the crowd and looking for the exits. She found Thea and her friends being led to a VIP table and watched them get settled and order three bottles of $500 Champagne.

"Must be nice," she muttered under her breath, knowing just one of those bottles would have paid for her rent and groceries for an entire month before the island. She watched as the underage posse quickly finished off the bottles, some moving off to dance and others ordering rounds of mix drinks.

Kyra moved closer to the dance floor as Thea and two of her friends made their way toward the middle of the pulsing mass of bodies. After twenty minutes of watching the teens become up close and personal with each other on the dance floor, she felt it safe enough to make her way to the bar for a drink. Just because she was playing bodyguard didn't mean she couldn't enjoy her night. Ordering a simple Jack and Coke, she took her first sip and savored the taste. After the island, simple things were meant to be cherished, whether it was a simple drink, a warm shower, or a king size bed and a mound of pillows that she was currently fantasizing about.

She was just about to signal the bartender for a refill, when a man pushed past her, the tiny hairs on the back of her neck standing on end as he passed. She didn't move except to follow him with her eyes, watching as he made his way toward the bathrooms that were past the table Thea and her friends were occupying. She quickly scanned the room, finding her charge still swaying to the music in the middle of the dance floor.

With the teen otherwise occupied, she quickly followed the creepier and watched from the shadows as he quickly looked around before entering the ladies' bathroom. She didn't register she had covered the distance between her hiding spot and the door to the ladies in less than ten seconds, all she was focused on was that the man had given her a bad feeling.

She pushed the door open and was greeted with the sight of a pair of terrified eyes staring back at her. Those eyes belonged to the young waitress who had been serving Thea and her friends, and she was currently backed into the far corner with the man pressing a knife into her throat.

The man must have heard the door open, because he turned his head to look over his shoulder and when Kyra got the first glimpse of his eyes, a chill ran down her spine. Those eyes were the eyes of a man with nothing to lose and high as a kite on a summer day.

She quickly weighed her options, scanning the room, the girl, with her ripped shirt, black eye and split lip, and her soon to be unconscious opponent. There wasn't much space to maneuver in between the bathroom stalls and the sinks, but she would make do with what she had, thank whatever god that was listening she had worn pants and not a skirt.

"Back away from the girl."

She didn't raise her voice but she knew that he had heard as the girl flinched as he dug the knife into her throat. She flicked the lock on the door to make sure no one came in and he couldn't escape into the crowded club. She made a show of slipping out of her heels and placing them on the counter, neatly lining them up and laying her phone next to them, as if she didn't have a care in the world and not locked in a bathroom with a man sky high and wielding a knife.

"If I have to ask again, you won't like to outcome."

She watched as he weighed his options, sweat dripping down his face and his eyes darted around looking for an escape.

"What's your name?"

When the man opened his mouth she snapped, "I wasn't talking to you."

"Sam," the young woman whispered.

"Well Sam, my name is Kyra and in about thirty seconds I want you to pick up this phone and call the police. Can you do that for me?"

The man, through his drug induced haze had slowly concluded that Kyra was the bigger threat and turned to face her, removing the knife from the girl's neck. She watched as the terror was replaced by determination in the girl's eyes and with a quick nod in reassurance, she leapt forward, covering the distance between the door and those determined eyes in less than a second.

The man, when he was later interviewed wouldn't be able to tell the detectives what hit him first, the 6-inch heel or the 120-pound missile of pissed off woman. Kyra being the ever-resourceful person that she was, always had weapons on her whether they were knives or heels, and she used everything to her full advantage. A heel to the face was the distraction allowing her to strip the knife from his hand but the kick to the balls was just the womanly thing to do, when a man was threating an innocent in such a manner. He dropped like a stone to his knees and she didn't even give him a chance groan before she roundhouse kicked him in the head.

"Night, Night asshole," she muttered, as he fell sideways smashing his face into the tile floor.

He didn't move when she nudged him with her foot, so she relaxed a little and turned to find the girl staring with her mouth open like a fish, Kyra's phone clutched in her hands. She made her way over and gently pried the phone from the girl's death grip. When the girl didn't even react, she sighed and maneuvered the girl to sit on one of the chairs next to the door. The girl didn't even put up a fight, still staring at the form of her unconscious attacker, laying sprawled out of the floor.

Kyra quickly unlocked her phone and dialed 911, muttering to herself she should just have the police on speed dial for the number of times she had called them in the last two weeks. She grimaced between being kidnapped and intervening in a kidnapping, her and the Starling City police department were going to be seeing a lot of each other.

"Hello, yes I would like to report an attempted kidnapping and assault….. Club Sol, the ladies VIP bathroom…. Currently he is taking a little nap…. Yes please send officers and an ambulance right away…. Thank you."

She put her phone on speaker (the emergency dispatcher wanting her to remain on the line until help got there) and placed it on the chair next to the girl as she kneeled in front of her.

"Sam? Sam, can you look at me?"

Slowly, Sam tore her eyes away from the body on the other side of the room and looked at her.

"You're safe, he can't hurt you anymore."

* * *

The police and medical personal arrived less than ten minutes after being dispatched and found a rather odd sight. The two young women, sitting calmly next to the door and the unconscious assailant leaning in the opposite corner, his hands tied behind his back with pantyhose.

The police officers cuffed and removed the suspect while the paramedics treated the women.

"I'm fine." Kyra repeated for the tenth time to the overly pushy-medic, "He didn't touch me."

"That may be the case ma'am, but we have to check you over its procedure."

Kyra muttered some curses and complaints in Russian under her breath, but sat nicely as the young kid did his job. After all she had been a nurse and she knew what a pain in the ass uncooperative patients could be.

The one saving grace about the police officers hovering in the background, the club and its underage inhabitants had vacated rather quickly. Meaning Thea was currently on her way home…. Hopefully.

"There all done, you seem fine."

"Thank you Captain Obvious. Am I free to go?"

"No, unfortunately now that I've cleared you, the detectives would like to talk to you about what happened."

"Great," she muttered.

"Ms. McCoy?"

Kyra cringed slightly at the voice of the detective doing her interview before she turned to face him, "Detective Lance, how are you this fine evening."

Lance eyed her , "I'd be better if I wasn't getting called in at 11:30 pm for an incident involving a night club, drugs, and a repeat offender."

"Repeat offender?"

"Yeah, Marvin Keller…."

At her blank look he explained further.

"….the guy you kicked in the nuts."

"Oh."

"Yeah, Oh…. Well I've had run ins with him a few times, drugs and domestic abuse…. Sam never presses any charges…but they figured a friendly face would maybe get her to cooperate this time."

Hearing this wasn't the first time the scumbag had hurt Sam didn't shock her like it should have, because after being a nurse in the Glades and then her own experiences in the last five years, she knew the world was a dark place and sometimes it was hard to see a way back to the light. She made up her mind then and there that she would help Sam find her way out of the darkness and away from Marvin Keller.

"What do you need Detective?"

Lance didn't answer right away as if he was weighing what he would ask, "What were you doing at Club Sol tonight?"

"Getting a drink…"

If she was anyone else she probably would have ash under the heat of Lance's unimpressed glare.

"…. and chaperoning Thea Queen."

She almost thought she saw a flash of respect in the man's eyes at her reason, but she blinked and it was gone before she could confirm it had been there.

"So, you chaperoned Ms. Queen to the Club what happened after that?"

"I was at the bar, I had had one drink and was just about to ask for a refill, when a guy pushed past me heading towards the VIP area."

"By guy, you mean Marvin Keller?"

"Well I didn't stop to ask for his name before I kicked him the balls, as he was holding a woman at knife point, but yeah ... I mean Marvin Keller."

"And after he pushed past you, what next?"

"At first, I thought he was heading toward the VIP table so I followed him to make sure he didn't go after any of the kids…"

"Kids?"

"The trust fund kiddies Thea was dancing and getting drunk with."

"Ah….so you followed him?"

"He didn't even look at the table as he moved past and I watched him enter the ladies' restroom."

"So, what you followed him in?"

"Detective, has someone ever given you such a bad vibe that you know something bad was going to happen if you didn't stop it?"

Lance didn't need to say anything as she could see the answer written clearly in his face.

"Well, that's the vibe I got from Keller, and I knew I had to do something, so I followed him into the bathroom. And when I opened the door, he had Sam pinned to the wall in the corner with a knife pressed against her throat."

"After you confronted him what happened?"

"I told him to let her go or he wouldn't like the outcome. When he didn't, I locked the door and took off my shoes…"

At Lance's questioning look, Kyra paused her explanation and pulled up her pant leg enough to show him the six-inch heels she was wearing.

"….I asked Sam her name and told her mine. Then I told her she needed to use my phone to call the police, Keller must not have liked me talking to her cause he turned toward me with the knife, so I defended myself."

She knew she was being vague but she wasn't going to out herself or her skills to the Starling City Detective tasked with hunting her and Oliver down.

"And by defending yourself…."

"I mean, the crazy guy, high on drugs, came as me with a knife so I hit him in the face with my shoe and kicked him in the balls."

Lance winced at her description, "Then you tied him up with pantyhose and called 911?"

"No, I called 911 first and then tied him up."

Lance opened his mouth as if to say something but then paused as if thinking better of it, "Well, I think that covers it. Is there anything else you'd like to tell me?"

She thought quickly, she had been vague but to the point with her statement, the evidence and unconscious idiot backed up her story.

When she didn't answer, Lance gave her a nod, "Well, if we need anything else, we have your contact info and address. You're free to go."

He had turned away from her when she called out, "Detective?"

He didn't say anything but looked at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry…"

At his confusion she went on, "…We're both sorry that we came home and Sara didn't. I know if he could change it, he would. And I know that it doesn't make it easier or better, but Detective, you forget you weren't the only one who lost her. And Oliver has had to live with that guilt eating away at him for the last five years. I'm not saying forgive or forget but please try to remember you weren't the only one who loved her."

With that she moved to gather her suit jacket, phone, and keys, and made her way out of the club and back home. Hopefully, leaving Detective Lance with something to consider for when he met Oliver next.

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